An exceptional 19-year-old boy, Ahmed Muhammad who emerged as the first-ever black male valedictorian of Oakland Technical High School, Tennessee, US has started his university education with a brilliant first-year result.
Ahmed Muhammad who enrolled for a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering at Stanford University, California, United States bagged an outstanding 4.05 GPA out of an estimated maximum of 4.3 points, making him attain over 94% of the available grade points.
The 19-year-old who became popular after launching a science education business for kids called “Kits Cubed” during high school.
Speaking with KTVU, Ahmed said the classes at Stanford in terms of how he approached them were not too much different from what his teachers required of him in high school. “I didn’t understand why they were expecting so much in high school, why they were tough on me, but now, come to college, I’m directly applying what they taught me,” he said.
The Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell while speaking about Ahmed described him as an “amazing young man” and applauded his hard work and extracurricular activities.
“We are very proud of the history that Ahmed made as Oakland Tech’s first Black Male Valedictorian in its 106-year history, and we know he will take the brilliance of Oakland with him as he tackles his next academic challenge at Stanford University,” Johnson-Trammell told TODAY.
Ahmed who has founded Kits Cubed explained that he established the organization to introduce youth to the wonders of science through fun, affordable, and accessible means.
His inspiration for starting the organization stemmed from his niece and nephew who once told him that they were “bad” at science.
“Whenever I babysit them, we do things like play chess, play video games, read books or watch TV or whatever,” he previously explained.
“When I tried to do science with them, they were like, ‘No, I hate science. I’m bad at it.’ I went into my room and I pulled out some science books. Then I went online and did some research and was able to design some science experiments for them to do at home. The materials consisted of just stuff we have around the house, and they loved it,” he added.
Muhammad is currently hiring students aged 16 to 24 in areas including kit development, community outreach, marketing and graphic design. He’s also encouraging young volunteers to apply for a summer internship with his organization.