Alabama senior earns $2 million in scholarships

“I can’t even express how proud I am of Dave,” said Gwendolyn Mose, whose son, Dave Lewis, is a senior at Vigor High School in Prichard, Alabama.

In a phone interview, she was referring to the number of colleges that have offered Dave admission in the fall. The current count is 82, with scholarship offers totaling $2 million – a record for Vigor. “He kept saying, ‘Mama, I’m at this many,’” she recalled as the tally grew.

“He’s always been a good student,” his mother said. “He doesn’t get in any trouble.” Her son, the oldest of three with two younger sisters who also attend Vigor, is “very shy,” she said, and has good manners.

Even while making good grades at Vigor, where he has served as an ambassador and a member of 100 Black Men of America, Dave has held a full-time job at Wal-Mart. “After work, he’s in his room,” she said. While he used to enjoy playing video games, she said, now “he doesn’t even pick up the joystick.”

Instead, in his spare time, he works on his photography skills. He took some senior portraits for his peers and hopes to own his own business one day.

Dave is “very determined,” she said – and he got his determination honestly, from her. “I was a very good student myself,” says the 2002 Vigor graduate. “I show him hard work pays off. We talk a lot about life. I’ve told him life isn’t easy. You’ve got to plant your seeds, and then they’ll grow.”

Gwendolyn said that Dave plans to study nursing and eventually become a doctor. She would like for him to attend an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) where he could be an inspiration to others. But in the end, it’s Dave’s decision – which he has yet to make. “He’s thinking hard on it,” she said.