TeenQuest, SYI Alum Receives Prestigious Scholarship

TeenQuest graduate and Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) participant DeEsmond Lewis was one of 300 students around the nation to receive the Gates Scholarship. The award is a highly selective scholarship for exceptional, Pell-eligible, minority, high school seniors and covers the full cost of college attendance.

“We are very proud of Mr. Lewis’s accomplishments,” says James Avery, director of Education and Training at the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce. “We know that he will go on to do great things and can’t wait to follow his journey.”

Lewis will begin at Stanford University, where he plans to pursue a degree in health sciences. Ultimately, Lewis is leaning toward becoming a family physician.

“I have a passion for helping people,” says Lewis, who worked for Genesee County Parks, the Flint Public Library and Mott Community College through SYI. “I want to be able to build long-term relationships with my patients and believe working at a family practice allow me to do that.”

Lewis credits his high school for his success and notes that Carman-Ainsworth – Baker Career Academy has great teachers and staff who care about their students’ achievements. According to Lewis, it is a place he is going to miss.

“The other day, one of my peers told me that I made the school what it is,” says Lewis. “I am always an ambassador for the school.”

Although Lewis does not know where he will end up after his schooling, he ultimately plans to return to his hometown, so he can give back to his community.

TeenQuest and Summer Youth Initiative are made possible through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

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