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Life may sometimes stack the cards against you, but a teen from New Jersey is proving that it can never stop you from going for your dreams.
17-year-old Dylan Chidick has had challenging times during his childhood. He and his family moved to the U.S. from Trinidad when he was seven years old, and his two younger brothers were both diagnosed with serious heart conditions which would require surgery.
His family was homeless several times, a potentially devastating development in the growth of a young man, but Chidick never gave up the fight for his dreams and his perseverance is now paying off:
Dylan has been accepted into 17 colleges.
These college acceptances sent Dylan a powerful message:
"My family went through a lot and there has been a lot of people saying, 'you can't do that,' or 'you're not going to achieve this,' and me – getting these acceptances – kind of verifies what I have been saying. I can do it and I will do it."
Chidick is also Senior Class President at Henry Snyder High School and was inducted into the National Honors Society.
Dylan has been inspired to achieve by his mother, who had the courage to ask for help from charity "Women Rising," when things became difficult:
"Making herself vulnerable and putting herself out there, that made me determined to never let us get back in that situation again."
@UberFacts Im so proud of Dylan and Congratulations to his mother for raising such awesome sons.— Cantria Williams (@Cantria Williams) 1552604488.0
@nytimes That is great, i am happy 4 u young man.— Walter c goins (@Walter c goins) 1552621578.0
The organization has provided the Chidicks with permanent, supportive housing, which gives Dylan a safe place to study and focus his attention on choices for the future.
@nytimes Congrats! Thank you for showing hard work and honesty is worth it! Best of luck!— Jean Miller (@Jean Miller) 1552620858.0
Roseann Mazzeo, executive director for Women Rising, commented to WLNY:
"She is a great example in doing everything necessary to help her children."
Twitter was incredibly impressed by Chidick's work ethic:
@nytimes Makes my heart sing to see this young man's success! We should do everything we can to ensure he gets to the finish line!— MadisonM (@MadisonM) 1552621683.0
@nytimes He is amazing. I greatly admire him.— Meggles411 (@Meggles411) 1552621354.0
@nytimes That’s awesome! Congrats Dylan!— Wayfinder Trio is Back!! (@Wayfinder Trio is Back!!) 1552654684.0
@UberFacts We need to pay so much more attention to these students.♥️♥️— Susy Meier (@Susy Meier) 1552603693.0
Dylan is still waiting from one last college, his favorite:
"The College of New Jersey. I haven't heard back yet, but that is my top school right now."
Wherever he ends up, Chidick plans on studying Political Science, and we're sure he's going to do a phenomenal job!
@nytimes Rock on Dylan! No doubt you will succeed at whatever path you choose to take in life.— Dontgototheshowbye (@Dontgototheshowbye) 1552621711.0
@UberFacts Best thing I read all day. Congratulations to this young man 👏👏👏— Amy Desrosiers (@Amy Desrosiers) 1552606228.0