Joshua Suddith, a 13-year-old Georgia high school student, celebrated his recent birthday with a college acceptance letter from a prestigious HBCU.
When Joshua Suddith was 4 years old, he learned about Martin Luther King, Jr., discovering that the iconic civil rights leader began his studies at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Ga., at 15 years old. According to his parents, he made it a goal to beat that milestone—and now he has done just that. At 13, Siddith, a student at Hills Academy in Conyers, Ga., received an acceptance letter from Morehouse College on his birthday.
Siddith, who has been ahead of milestones his entire life—speaking at 9 months, reading at 18 months, and writing a book by age 3—has already received college acceptance offers from a slew of other historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) like Miles College in Alabama, Tennessee State University in Tennessee, Shaw University in North Carolina and Jackson State University in Mississippi, but Morehouse College is his dream school. Joshua reportedly has a passion for HBCUs.
Siddith is going to defer admission to Morehouse College for a year so that he can graduate from high school. This would still put him on pace to enter Morehouse at 14, a year ahead of Dr. King. In the meantime, Siddith is currently taking college-level courses at Augusta Technical College, where he reportedly has a 3.88 GPA and has completed 27 credit hours.
According to Atlanta’s 11Alive news, Siddith intends to study international relations. While he wants to attend Morehouse College, he also has applications to Harvard, Georgia Tech, and Yale, among others. It is clear that wherever he ends up, he will be successful and impact the world, as is his goal.
“I am driven by a passion for learning and making a positive impact in the world,” said the teen.
Joshua’s parents are effusive about him. His mother, Chaundra Suddith, says, “His grit and determination are the most impressive things about him. He didn’t let challenges get in the way of his dream.”
She didn’t let on what those challenges might be, but to a particular generation, the only challenges one faced at 13 were beating Zelda, not getting caught outside when the street light came on, and separating the white clothes from the colored clothes. It is unconfirmed but likely that Josh’s challenges include Advanced Placement courses and being the smartest person in most rooms he walks into. But also, like most 13 year olds, he enjoys basketball and playing piano.
Joshua’s father, also named Joshua, was similarly proud of him, saying, “As my namesake, Joshua, truly makes me proud. I pray he always keeps God first.” There’s nothing like a Black parent to ensure that we keep the main thing the main thing.
No matter what, Joshua Suddith is an example of using your talents and gifts to thrive and prosper, even at such a young age.
