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Philadelphia High School Senior’s Ecstatic Reaction to College Acceptance Goes Viral

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A Philadelphia high school senior who was accepted into his first-choice college has gone viral for his ecstatic reaction.

Amir Staten, 17, is a senior at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has been a long-held dream of Amir to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and when he received his acceptance letter, nothing could hold back his joy.

“The day he found out was Feb. 16,” Amir’s mom, 44-year-old Philadelphia-based Karlynne Staten, told The Epoch Times. “My day before that was horrible; a student at my job was jumped by a group of kids. Amir came and picked me up from my job. As I walked the steps to my house, he told me that he received an email from Morehouse.”

Epoch Times Photo
Amir Staten, 17, runs in joy after he gets accepted into Morehouse College. (Courtesy of Karlynne Staten)

When Amir opened the email, the word, “Congratulations” stood out to Karlynne.

“As he took in the good news he began to run up the street,” Karlynne said. “Normally he is very reserved so it was a shock to see him so excited!”

Karlynne began to record her son’s reaction to share it with her family who lives across the country. However, neither she nor Amir had any idea the 30-second clip of the teen running in the rain would go viral on Instagram.

Since the video was posted on Instagram it has received almost 30,000 views.

“The outpouring of love for my ‘sonshine’ has been amazing, we feel so blessed,” Karlynne said. “I cried so much reading everyone’s comments, he really touched a lot of people.”

For Amir, the moment was incredibly special. He told Fox 29. “It was a moment where I was just like, ‘I did it, all the hard work is paying off.’”

Epoch Times Photo
(Courtesy of Karlynne Staten)

As interest in the teen’s story grew, so did a GoFundMe page that was started to raise Amir’s $600 college application fee. The page has since amassed $36,000 in donations including a massive $4,200 from NBA star Kyrie Irving.

Amir plans to study sociology since he wants to help minorities and feels there isn’t enough Black male presence in the field. He has been able to pay his enrolment fees thanks to kind donations from people all over the world. Extra funds will go toward tuition and living expenses.

Epoch Times Photo
Amir Staten with his mom Karlynne. (Courtesy of Karlynne Staten)

“Amir has been on honor roll his whole life,” his proud mom told The Epoch Times. “He has a business putting together furniture and household items. He’s the captain of his varsity basketball team and a star high jumper. He enjoys going to church, hanging with his twin sister [Angel], going on family vacations, and mentoring his peers and the youth.”

For Amir’s mom, the news of him getting into Morehouse College meant a lot. She said: “As a single mother who has not had the best life, this made it all worth it.”

Karlynne lost her 18-year-old godson to gun violence on her birthday, Jun. 27, 2021. He was graduating valedictorian of his high school. As her family continues to grieve the loss, her son’s college journey has become “very personal.”

Watch the video:

(Courtesy of Karlynne Staten)

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter





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