[jacketree]

Maybe people read the headline but not the story?  He doesn't come off as egotistical, but confident in his own abilities, which is pretty amazing with every excuse in the world not to be. This is not some douche from a typical Stanford prep feeder bragging about college acceptance letters as trophies.  This was a pretty big deal at his Memphis high school. The guy wants to get going on a start up while in college and make Bill Gates jealous. Good for him!!

Readus turned up on the collective radar last fall when a minister in a food line talked to him long enough to note his promise, then told him to call Memphis Challenge, a group working since 1989 to identify talented minority students, get them to college and then back to Memphis to work.

Readus and his mother, who’s been blind from birth, live on food stamps in a rundown apartment at Mississippi and Kerr. To contribute to their income, he tutors in math.

He also wants people to know the rumor-mongering about Melrose and Memphis in general is more toxic than people know.
“I have seen people at Melrose High, worse off than me, go on and do great. The things we are doing right — going to school and graduating — are not being understood.”

His advice to other students is to find someone to help. “You never know how much easier things can get if you have help. You may think no one can help, but you are wrong.”

[jacketree]

Maybe people read the headline but not the story?  He doesn't come off as egotistical, but confident in his own abilities, which is pretty amazing with every excuse in the world not to be. This is not some douche from a typical Stanford prep feeder bragging about college acceptance letters as trophies.  This was a pretty big deal at his Memphis high school. The guy wants to get going on a start up while in college and make Bill Gates jealous. Good for him!!

Readus turned up on the collective radar last fall when a minister in a food line talked to him long enough to note his promise, then told him to call Memphis Challenge, a group working since 1989 to identify talented minority students, get them to college and then back to Memphis to work.

Readus and his mother, who’s been blind from birth, live on food stamps in a rundown apartment at Mississippi and Kerr. To contribute to their income, he tutors in math.

He also wants people to know the rumor-mongering about Melrose and Memphis in general is more toxic than people know.
“I have seen people at Melrose High, worse off than me, go on and do great. The things we are doing right — going to school and graduating — are not being understood.”

His advice to other students is to find someone to help. “You never know how much easier things can get if you have help. You may think no one can help, but you are wrong.”