The teen worked feverishly toward her goal of graduating on top.
A Tennessee teen mom has just received more than $1 million in scholarships from at least 25 colleges after graduating as valedictorian from Trezevant High School in Memphis.
Lamyrical Harris found out she was pregnant junior year of high school and still worked toward her goal of finishing with honors and at the top of her class.
The school posted the news of Harris’ scholarships on its Facebook page and said the student was the first to ever get that much money in scholarships at Trezevant High.
Harris gave birth to her son, Laderrious Moore, last year and was motivated to finish her high school career strong.
“Our valedictorian, Lamyrical Harris, has been offered a total of $1,244,298 in ACADEMIC scholarships, making her our first to receive this honor,” they wrote.
"She came to school. She took care of business, and her motivation has been her child," Assistant Principal Yolanda Sherrod told CBS affiliate WREG.
Harris told the station that when she found out she was pregnant, “she was scared,” but “it just made me go 10 times harder.” She said a teacher helped keep her motivated during times when she could not walk or was too tired.
"At the end of junior year I had $200,000. By the time I hit senior year, I was at 500,000," Harris said.
The scholarship money kept stacking up, eventually totaling over $1 million by the time she graduated this month.
She said she hasn’t figured out which college she will attend but plans on donating to her high school. She also has big plans for her son as she wants him to be valedictorian one day as well.
"I want him to be valedictorian of his class, and I want him to have over a million dollars in scholarships," she said.
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