Rehan Staton, 24, feared he’d never go to college until he was 24 years old. He’d been rejected several times before and was confident that his future lay elsewhere. As a result, he was scared to open the email from Harvard Law School.
He had no idea that an acceptance letter was on its way to him. He says, “It was certainly the most strange time of my life.” “I just felt like we got into Harvard after going through everything we did as a family, and I can’t even express it.” It was a case of ‘we.’
Although being admitted into Harvard Law School looks well for Rehan’s future, there was a time when things were not so bright.
What was Rehan’s childhood like?
Rehan Staton’s mother abandoned his family and fled the country when he was 8 years old. His older brother Reggie devised and performed strategies to keep Rehan fueled in order to help him improve his grades.
Rehan’s grades improved, and he earned the title of an honour student. But, over time, he began to move his attention away from academia and into sports.
How did Rehan succeed?
Rehan, frustrated, took a job picking up trash and cleaning garbage to help his father pay his expenses.
Many of whom had previously served time in prison, Rehan’s colleagues had nothing but positive things to say about him and his future. “That was the first time in my life that a group of individuals simply, encouraged, and told me I was smart.” I was ready to go to school because I believed in the excitement.” However, due to his family’s financial difficulties, Rehan could not attend school.
Rehan claimed colleagues introduced him to a professor at Bowie State University, a school that had previously rejected him. Still, the professor was impressed and persuaded the administration to change their minds.
However, going to school meant that Reggie, Rehan’s older brother, had to drop out of college to help support the family.
Staton said to GMA, “My brother knew I’d be trapped if I didn’t take this opportunity and go to school because of my scores.”
Staton graduated with a 4.0 GPA and went on to the University of Maryland, where he involved himself in campus life and eventually spoke at the class of 2018 graduation.He kept working in sanitation to pay the bills throughout this time.
After college, he found a job at a political consulting company in Washington, D.C., took the LSAT, and applied to several law schools.
Staton began classes at Harvard Law School in 2020. Staton advised anyone looking for motivation through difficult times to “You must love yourself enough to achieve your goals in life. In every gloomy scenario, you can always see the light, and you must hold on to it.”
The lesson we get from Rehan is, Start working hard to make your dream into a reality and don’t lose hope.
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