Kaden Kirtland knew it would be hard to get accepted to the University of Chicago.
The school’s 5.4 percent acceptance rate puts it on the same list as Harvard University, Yale University and Princeton University – U.S. colleges with acceptances rates under 6 percent.
But Kaden applied anyway.
Now, he has a full scholarship worth $379,884 to the University of Chicago. Kaden learned in January that he earned a QuestBridge scholarship, a needs-base scholarship that covers tuition and fees. QuestBridge connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with education, career and life opportunities, according to the organization’s website.
“For a while, I thought that nothing great and nothing terrible could ever happen to me,” Kaden said. “So, the fact that something like this actually happened was unbelievable.”
Jessica Kirtland, Kaden’s mom, said when she first heard about QuestBridge, she was nervous that Kaden was depending on the scholarship to attend the college of his dreams.
“I still don’t think it has actually sunk in that he will be able to do all these amazing things because he worked so hard and has achieved this amazing scholarship,” she said.
Kaden, a senior at Destrehan High School, has always excelled at academics, Jessica said. He received a perfect score on the ACT, he has been on the Honor Roll his entire school career, and he recently learned to play the piano, Jessica said. But he also faced challenges.
“He went through some bullying in middle school,” Jessica said. “Yet he stood up for himself and has done things so fearlessly. He might now know it, but Kaden is fearless and will work hard to do what he needs to do.”
Jessica said when Kaden was in fifth grade, he sung in the talent show.
“I cried the whole time in amazement that my son was standing there among his peers singing his heart out in a full suit,” Jessica said. “He’s fearless.”
Kaden said he is proud of how far he has come since middle school.
“It was a real low point for me, but I’ve managed to escape most of the anxieties that held onto me then,” Kaden said.
Kaden said he has struggled with a constant feeling of isolation. He lives part time with his dad across the state, which means he has to say no to attending birthday parties and other social events, he said.
“That isolation also led to a general feeling of society anxiety that still gets to me today,” he said. “I always felt different from my peers, and it made connecting and forming bonds with them harder. My social skills were weak, as if my brain was compensating for a high academic intelligence by taking away from something else.”
Kaden said he is looking forward to living in Chicago and taking classes at the university. He said he plans to study creative writing and game design.
“I’ve been interested in games as an art form for a while, and recently I’ve discovered a pretty strong passion for writing,” he said. “No matter what I did, I knew I wanted to make something, and it feels like stories and games are the things I want to make.”
That passion for writing came in handy when Kaden had to answer the University of Chicago’s essay prompts, which are known for their unique style, according to D’Otta Sniezak, the gifted English teacher and AP world history teacher at Destrehan High School.
“I’m thoroughly convinced that [his essay] got him acceptance into the school,” she said.
Sniezak said Kaden came to her with the idea to answer the essay prompt in a “chose your own adventure” style. Kaden spent time working with Sniezak on his essays.
“I had never had a kid look at it in quite that lens before,” she said. “It was so cool to see. Kaden is a very deep thinking and intelligent student.”
Kaden said his mom has always pushed him to pursue higher education.
“And my teachers have been some of the most encouraging people I could ask for,” he said.
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