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‘A Lot of Sacrifices’: Georgia Teen Defied the Odds After Heart Surgery. Now, He’s Been Accepted Into 40 Colleges with Over $1.6M In Scholarships.

A Georgia teen has been accepted to over 40 colleges. In addition to the offers, the young man is mulling over a total of $1.6 million worth of scholarships—ensuring he won’t spend one red cent on his college education.

Regis Harris, a senior at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, is a straight-A student who has a plethora of options for his future. He spent a lot of time applying for colleges and scholarships, and now that sacrifice has paid off, according to Atlanta News First.

Georgia teen accepted to 40 colleges, offered $1.6 million in scholarships
Regis Harris (Photo: YouTube screenshot/Regis Harris)

The 17-year-old has been accepted to dozens of schools and will not have to pay any money for school after ending his stellar high school career with a bang.

“I’m so blessed to have this opportunity,” Harris said of his accomplishment. “There were several schools at the top of my list.”

An attractive candidate, Harris is a member of the National Honor Society, chess club, school band, and varsity track team. In addition to the extracurricular programs he is involved in at school, he sings in his church choir, has a part-time job, and dedicates some of his spare time to community service.

“It was a lot of sacrifices,” said Harris. “There were a lot of nights I stayed up studying all night long.”

“The hardest part for me was that I balanced staying on top of work but also that I maintained being a well-rounded person,” the young man added.

While Harris has 40 acceptance letters from schools like the University of Georgia and the University of Southern California, he knows where he wants to go.

He plans to attend a historically Black college and university, North Carolina A&T University. At the school, which currently has enrolled more Black people at one time than any other school in U.S. history, he’ll study biology (pre-med).

Harris says he wants to be a psychiatrist.

His mother, Kia Harris, said it has not always been easy for her son. He was born with a heart condition that required open-heart surgery when he was only 2 days old. She said her son has just been a fighter, doing the impossible all his life.

“The doctors told me he would be developmentally delayed. They even stated that he might have to have heart surgery again. He is our miracle,” Harris said.

His parents say they are so proud of him.

Harris is one of several students who were accepted to more than 40 schools and/or received millions of dollars in scholarships.

Right up the road from Harris is Daya Brown, a graduating senior at Westlake High School. This National Society of High School Scholar was accepted into over 50 colleges and has about $1.3 million worth of scholarship offers.

Likewise, a St. Louis teenager named Imarion Griffin, a senior at Cardinal Ritter High School was accepted into 70 schools this year and earned over $2 million in scholarships to the colleges and universities vying for his attention, News 8000 reported.

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