Like father, like son: Teen graduates high school early to attend father's alma mater
ATLANTA - People expect excellence from students who skip grades. Alex Jeffries has the 4.0, dozens of acceptance letters and has been on the Dean’s list since kindergarten, but family says the 16-year-old Westlake High School grad’s success is especially impressive, because he comes from a single-parent household.
"It took a lot of sacrifice, late nights doing studying," Jeffries said.
"My dad really helped me to get to the point where I’m at," Jeffries said. "There were times I was tired, didn’t feel like doing certain assignments."
It can be intimidating to follow in your father’s footsteps, but when your dad is as dedicated to your success as you are, odds of failing become miniscule.
"My mom isn’t really around like that. No siblings live with me, so I’m pretty much an only child," Jeffries said. "It’s kind of hard, you want to socialize more, meet more people, but my father made sure he instilled in me to do what you have to do before what you want to do."
Alex’s best efforts earned him AAU basketball awards, a black belt in Karate and now the 16-year-old has a ticket to his Dad’s alma mater, North Carolina’s High Point University. He also plans to take advantage of the school’s accelerated MBA program.
"Many people were surprised I graduated two years early because I didn’t just go around telling people," he said.
The drawbacks to graduating early
At just 16 years old, Alex Jefferies will be headed to college in the fall. The Westlake High School graduate has a rarified GPA and a long list of awards, even before setting footing into his higher-learning experience. However, his age did have some drawbacks on his road to success.
"I asked him every day, ‘How was school?’ And then the grades come in and I’m concerned about them. Once they know you’re concerned about them, they’ll be concerned about them and have motivation to do their best," Jeffries’ father, Charles Tatum said.
The only downside to having graduated early, the father and son say, is scholarship age requirements.
"In the system I was still an 11th grader, so I’m trying to play a little bit of catch up to get scholarship opportunities I’ve missed," he said.
Jeffries says he’s covered almost all tuition costs, but still has a little way to go.
One could say that’s the price you pay for excellence.