This Guy Who Sold Newspapers As A Kid Should Be Every College Kid's Inspiration
'Feel Good Friday': In a world where almost every student is forced to take education loan, this enterprising boy shows how to pursue education and also self-fund it.
By Sadho Ram — 03 Jun 2016, 06:20 PM
Education is costly. Ideally, it shouldn't be so, but it is.
Students take huge loans to fund their education and then work their entire life to pay them back.
But one very enterprising boy, who hasn't even started his college education yet, has managed to fully self-fund it already.
Meet Kevuntez King, a 17-year-old who grew up with his single mother.
King has sold newspapers from the age of 12 on a roadside corner of Poplar Avenue and Estate Drive in the US city of Memphis in Tennessee, every Sunday for four years, reports WBRC FOX6. And in doing so, King, now 17, has fulfilled his lifelong dream!
"Earn enough money to fully self-fund his entire college education."
And he did that while regularly going to high school and graduating with a 4.0 GPA.
"I'm a pretty determined young man," King says. And it shows!
He balanced schoolwork, three sports, school organisations AND his weekend job. For which he used to wake up at 3:45am in order to make it to the corner at 4:30am to set up the newspapers. Admitting that while he was scared at first seeing the cars fly by on either side of him, after he started making money he felt more comfortable, reported The Commercial Appeal, the very newspaper King sold.
According to The Commercial Appeal, King made USD75 the first time he sold newspapers. Now, he makes anything between USD150 to USD175 a day.
While King gets 25% for each newspaper he sells during his 12-hour work day, he makes most of his money from tips as he has more than 100 regular customers, who "continue to return because of him," says an independent contractor.
And whom does King give credit for all that he has achieved?
His mother, who, King says, "was my mama and daddy."
"She just wanted me to get out and be independent and try to learn how to be independent early so I can survive in the real world when she's not here."
"When it came down to school, my mom didn't have to come out of pocket to do anything or I didn't have to take out any loans to go to school," King was quoted as saying by KIRO 7 News.
King will now attend Tennessee State University, where he will major in physical therapy, The Commercial Appeal reported
"I've always been interested in the human body and helping people," King said.
commercialappeal.com
And for those ready to listen, King has a humble piece of advice:
"Make sure you surround yourself with people that's trying to go up in life and not trying to bring you down. Just stay positive and always believe in yourself and push for it."
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