{
  "id": 8977197,
  "title": "I was awarded $1 million in scholarships to NYU. I also sacrificed a lot of my teenage life to get there.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/i-was-awarded-1-million-in-scholarships-to-nyu-i-also-sacrificed-a",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-21T17:52:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/college-scholarships-financial-aid-first-generation-student-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Omarion Calloway was honored with more than $1 million in scholarships from over 20 colleges before enrolling at New York University (NYU). His journey to securing this financial aid was arduous and took up a significant portion of his teenage years. At the age of 18, he was already accepted into more than 20 colleges and offered over $1 million in combined scholarship funding. However, the headlines failed to capture the behind-the-scenes labor required to achieve this achievement.\n\nCalloway grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, with a clear goal of becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. However, his family lacked the means to fund his tuition, and his mother had no experience navigating higher education. With no guidance counselor to provide assistance, Calloway spent countless hours searching for scholarships and financial aid during the night, completely on his own. The process was challenging, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he was isolated at home and had to learn how to navigate college portals, financial aid pages, and scholarship search engines.\n\nCalloway's high school schedule was already packed with seven hours of school followed by homework. After that, he took on additional responsibilities at home, including caring for his grandmother and disabled uncle while his mother worked two jobs. From 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night, Calloway handled college portals, tracked deadlines, searched for scholarships, and drafted essays to secure financial aid. The process was mentally and physically exhausting, leaving little room for rest and personal growth. The author's life became a second job, and he missed out on the typical high school experience, such as attending football games or enjoying senior year milestones.",
  "summary": "I received more than $1 million in combined college aid and scholarship offers and a full ride to NYU. Getting there became a second job.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}