Student athlete makes my day

He doesn’t know it. He probably doesn’t even remember meeting me, but Minneapolis North student athlete Marquise Holloman made my day last month during the Empower Me Tour sponsored by the United Negro College Fund and Minneapolis Public Schools.

The event, which was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, provided high school and middle school students information about Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

There were powerful presentations on financial aid and scholarship opportunities along with workshops that gave students a chance to learn about campus life from recent graduates.

The Empower Me Tour also provided seniors with the opportunity to complete college applications during the event, resulting in some students leaving the tour with acceptance to a variety of HBCUs.

This is where Holloman made my day.

In my role as a social studies teacher at Johnson High School in St. Paul, I accompanied 30 students to the tour. During lunch I ran into current Minneapolis North Girls’ Basketball Coach Crystal Flint — Holloman’s mother.

In her usual enthusiastic style, she informed me that her son had been accepted to five schools, including one on a full scholarship.

The former Golden Gophers women’s basketball great explained that he’d received a UNCF scholarship to Tuskegee University (Alabama) and acceptances to Bethune Cookman University (Florida), Johnson C. Smith University (NC), Livingstone University (NC), and Wilberforce University (Ohio).

It made my day!

Here we are in 2016 still being identified as an endangered species, and here is one of our many kings getting the job done. There are more stories similar to Holloman’s but many don’t get the media attention they deserve.

So, yes! I decided that I would write about it!

Marquise Holloman made my day.

Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses to mmcdonald@spokesman-recorder.com.