Philadelphia teen Richard Jenkins has always been a bookworm, and he never let the struggles of homelessness get in the way of that according to USA Today.
Jenkins had to stay in a homeless shelter when he was in the sixth grade, but on Wednesday he was offered a full ride scholarship to Harvard.
"I was so embarrassed to say I lived in a shelter," he told USA Today. "But that's when I realized I've got to buckle in because I can't have my potential kids going through what I'm going through now."
The 18-year-old applied to Harvard his junior year after receiving a promotional email. He said a program that pays tuition for students from households that earn less than $65,000 a year drew his attention.
Jenkins currently attends Girard College, a boarding school in northern Philadelphia. He is this year's valedictorian.
