COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A Hapeville Charter Career Academy senior has many reasons to remember his last year of high school.
Not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of his hard work.
SaVion Smith received 32 college acceptance letters and $500,000 in scholarship offers. He went to a lot of college fairs and applied there to keep the application costs down. He's also a 5 Strong Scholar.
"It means that my work has paid off. My hard work has paid off," he told 11Alive in an interview.
He's excited about the future and plans to attend Alabama A&M University to major in in technology and criminal justice, with a minor in Spanish.
Smith said it's unfortunate that the class of 2020 won't get to have a traditional graduation, but he knows these moments will be one day a part of history - something he plans to tell his future children about one day.
"When their reading that Social Studies book and it says 'COVID-19'. I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, I know about COVID-19. We lived through that in 2020. Cancel this, cancel that. Put a hold to this, put a hold to that.'"