Tyree Grant was just 6 years old when he was taken from his biological mother and separated from his siblings. Bouncing from one foster home to another, as he searched for stability and a loving place to call home, young Grant is a prime example of the odds being stacked against him at an early age.
“I moved back and forth to homes, it was difficult. I fought, I screamed, I yelled, I cried — it hurt,” Grant told NBC TODAY. “No kid wants to be put through that situation.â€
But after years of looking for a family to call his own, the New York scholar was adopted at age 8 by his now very loving parents, Walter and Theresa Grant. From that moment on Grant said that he finally felt accepted and with the help of his parents, he went on to beat the odds and excel academically as he learned to value the importance of an education.
“Just knowing that school is priority number one, I was able to move through all the distractions and still come out on top,†Grant says.
This year, the teen will graduate from the Bronx School of Law and Finance with an A average, and will attend Dickinson College next fall on a full scholarship, with the help of The Posse Foundation. This a program devoted to helping teen in urban areas attend college. Grant plans to study law and policy with a minor in philosophy.