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https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/18/us/helms-ategeka-college-acceptance-cec/index.html
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7 minute read
Updated 9:33 AM EDT, Sat May 18, 2024
Helms Ategeka with some of his many college acceptance letters. He graduates from high school next month in Oakland, California.
Courtesy Christopher Ategeka
CNN —
Helms Ategeka wants to be a pop star. But when he told his dad he planned to pursue a music degree after his graduation next month from high school, his father wasn’t exactly thrilled.
So last fall, the Oakland, California, teenager took a different approach: He started applying to colleges. More than 150 of them.
Before long, he got an acceptance letter. Then another. And another. The trickle became a flood until there were 122 of them — along with some $5.3 million in proposed grants and scholarship offers. (CNN has viewed the acceptance letters.)
His father says he’s proud of Helms’ 3.94 GPA and had hoped his son would pick a career with financial stability, like medicine or computer technology. Or maybe Helms might follow in his own footsteps as a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.
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He’s been accepted to 122 colleges with $5.3 million in scholarships. His choice came down to his love of music
By Faith Karimi, CNN7 minute read
Updated 9:33 AM EDT, Sat May 18, 2024
Helms Ategeka with some of his many college acceptance letters. He graduates from high school next month in Oakland, California.
Courtesy Christopher Ategeka
CNN —
Helms Ategeka wants to be a pop star. But when he told his dad he planned to pursue a music degree after his graduation next month from high school, his father wasn’t exactly thrilled.
So last fall, the Oakland, California, teenager took a different approach: He started applying to colleges. More than 150 of them.
Before long, he got an acceptance letter. Then another. And another. The trickle became a flood until there were 122 of them — along with some $5.3 million in proposed grants and scholarship offers. (CNN has viewed the acceptance letters.)
His father says he’s proud of Helms’ 3.94 GPA and had hoped his son would pick a career with financial stability, like medicine or computer technology. Or maybe Helms might follow in his own footsteps as a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.
