Oakland Technical High School was founded back in 1914. For the first time in the school’s 107-year-history, a young Black man has been named valedictorian, reports Afro Tech.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 18-year-old high school senior Ahmed Muhammad will officially be named the top student of his class next month. Following that, he’ll be preparing to start his college career with 11 different acceptances to choose from, including Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Princeton and Columbia.
“It feels amazing. I’m grateful to be accepted to any single college, but 11 of them? I had never imagined this,” Muhammad told KTVU. “It’s an awesome feeling to know that all the hard work I put in and all the support and love I received paid off. It’s pretty cool I was named valedictorian.”
While maintaining a 4.73 grade point average overall and a 5.0 so far during his senior year, Muhammad has juggled rigorous college courses, played on the varsity basketball team and even started his own science education company, Kits Cubed, amid the pandemic bringing kids science experiments.
Nearly 3,000 of Muhammad’s kits have been distributed to Oakland Unified School District elementary and middle schools. Though the company currently operates under the Seneca Family of Agencies — a Fairfield non-profit — Muhammad is working to attain its own non-profit status.
Muhammad’s goals for the future include expanding his future non-profit, working on his company presentations, partnerships and community outreach.
“My advice is to never stop dreaming, and while in pursuit of your dreams, make sure to implement a foundation in your life that can serve you no matter what it is you want to accomplish,” he told KTVU. “Dreams are powerful and dynamic, and by having a foundation of good habits, you’ll be able to achieve your wildest dreams even as they, and you, change.”
