(Trinidad Guardian) He migrated from this country at a young age and has been dominating headlines in the United States after he was accepted into not one, not two…not even three but 17 universities.
At just seven years old Dylan Chidick, along with his mother and younger twin brothers, left their home in Point Fortin in hopes of a brighter future in the United States.
However, not long after settling in New Jersey the family began falling on hard times. During a Skype interview with Guardian Media Limited Dylan explained how challenging life had become “my family went through a lot, many would look at me and say that I won’t achieve my goals”. The family’s situation would then take a sharp turn for the worse when Dylan’s younger brothers were diagnosed with serious heart conditions.
Mounting medical bills subsequently forced the family into periods of homelessness. Dylan described the family’s new struggle as scary “we lived among disabled people, and others suffering from various illnesses, we had to adapt and were forced to comply with certain conditions, it was difficult for us all but I tried not to show how it affected me.”
Despite the insurmountable obstacles Dylan and his family faced, he never forgot his dream to achieve. Instead of hanging his head, the Jersey City student began shouldering some of the load which was weighing his family down heavily. “When we lived in the shelter I took advanced school so that the next year which is now I would be able to leave school early. I would get up by 6.30, leave the house by 7.30 then take the train and drop my brothers to summer camp, from there I’d go to school from 8.30 to 12.30 and then from 1 to 7 pm I will work at the recreation centre. I worked at the pool as a locker room attendant and I basically clean up after people and after that, I’d go home and do my homework.”
Dylan rose to become senior class president at Henry Snyder High School, now the 17-year-old son of the soil has gotten acceptance letters from 17 of the 18 universities he applied to.
From a homeless teen enduring financial struggles with his family, Dylan is now proof that through determination and hard work you can accomplish all your goals.
He intends to visit home later this year, but in the meantime, he wants students who may have their backs against the wall to “push through and don’t let your dream out of sight, keep working until you’ve accomplished your goals.”
