Background: "My mom is a second generation teen mom. My dad was a five-time convicted felon on charges of possession with intent to sell cocaine. When I was born, he was on house arrest.

That's had a profound effect on my development. My dad was the one who really talked about the Ivy League for me. My parents got me into a great school district. They started their own small business. As I was able to see their successes, I was able to see myself through their eyes.

My story was different than my peers'. People who apply to Yale have privileged backgrounds, their parents went to these schools and they wanted this all their life. My parents struggled to get high school diplomas. It's a really big deal that they've given me a life that I can flourish in."

How I did it: "I was a competitive swimmer for four years. We just won state championships. I'm a long distance freestyler. I volunteer at the YMCA and I work as a lifeguard there.

After my college tours last year, especially as a first generation college student, I found out a lot of things that would have helped me when I was younger. For example, a lot of people don't know about the grant programs that make the process more affordable. So I started a program for academically promising freshman and sophomores at my school, where we match them up with older mentors who have been through it. We meet biweekly and talk everything they need to know about the process, like standardized testing and activities."

Test scores and grades: "I have a 3.98 GPA. I got a 34 on my ACT and a 2140 on my SAT.

When people ask me about my test scores, they don't understand that it's more of a holistic process now. You have to have what my mom calls the 'it' factor."

What pushed me: "It's definitely my parents I'm doing this for. I applied to six colleges, and got waitlisted at Harvard. My parents were just so excited that I wasn't flat out denied. When I opened the Yale news, my parents started crying. It was a mess. It's a really cool thing to get to experience with them, knowing how much they went through to get me to where I am."

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