East Point teen earns $1.4 million in college scholarships

EAST POINT, Ga. - An East Point high school senior overcame years of bullying to achieve her dream of going to college, and now, Angel Harris has more than $1.4 million in college scholarships to choose from. 

"I have been accepted so far into 16 schools out of the 52 I've applied for," said Harris. Even though she hasn't heard back from all of the schools she's applied to yet, all the applications have already paid off. She's earned more than $1 million in scholarships.

"It wasn’t stressful to me," said Harris of all the applications. "It was actually a stress reliever. When I get bored, I apply to colleges."

When she gets to college, Angel wants to study neuroscience and become a brain surgeon. she's already dually enrolled right now and is currently taking college courses while still in high school.

"Growing up, I was kind of a sick kid," said Harris. "So learning about my body made me more interested in learning about other people's," said the teen.

Now, she has some pretty big invitations to do just that including Cornell, Penn State, and North Carolina A&T State University.

But this accomplishment was no easy feat for this teen. She transferred to different high schools twice because of bullying.

"I remember I got jumped in the restroom and came home with a black eye," said Harris. "It was kind of a downer, and I kept telling myself that I would be better than what people thought of me, and I would prove them wrong," she said.

It wasn't just students she wanted to prove wrong.

"She was in a class, and a teacher told her, 'You won't even go to college,' and I said, 'You know what, no, we're going to use this as motivation,'" said Sonya Harris, Angel's mother.

For her last two years of high school, Angel came to Tri-Cities High School, and with the help of her family and motivation from her teachers, Angel pushed herself to success she never thought possible.

"She came into my class, and I knew that she was different. I've been teaching for 19 years, and I know what an exceptional student she is," said Antoine Thompson, the Tri-Cities A.V.I.D. coordinator and tennis coach.

Now, Angel wants other students to know they can be exceptional even if they feel excluded. "Find your niche," said Harris. "If you focus and find your niche, sometimes that niche can take you out of the reality that you’re in. And don't be afraid to speak up. Nobody can help you if you don't speak up, and when I finally did, I felt like I could breathe. So don’t stop, keep going," said the teen.

Harris should hear back from all the schools she applied to by May 1, and that's the day she will commit to the school of her choice. She is hoping North Carolina A&T State University will offer her more of a scholarship because that is her first choice school.