AFRICA | A brilliant 17-year-old girl named Kelly Hyles has achieved an extraordinary academic milestone after emerging as the valedictorian of the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at the City College of New York with an impressive 99.63% GPA.
Her academic excellence earned her acceptance into 21 top U.S. universities, including Dartmouth University, Cornell University, Brown University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and all eight Ivy League schools, a rare feat that only a handful of students achieve across the United States.
Kelly's Story and How She Did It
Kelly’s journey began when she moved from Guyana to the United States in 2009 at age 11 with her mother, Anetta Hyles, who worked tirelessly as a single parent juggling two demanding jobs.
Despite the challenges of adapting to a new country, Kelly stayed committed to her academics. Her mother noted that Kelly had always been a top-performing student even back in Guyana, but moving to America opened her eyes to even greater opportunities.
At the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering, one of New York’s competitive STEM-focused schools, Kelly excelled in every aspect of her academic life.
Kelly’s guidance counselor, Wade Klein, revealed that she earned near-perfect grades on every exam, project, and assignment across all semesters for four straight years, a level of consistency rarely seen among high school students.
Her dedication extended beyond the classroom. Kelly participated in a competitive biomedical research program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she conducted lab research on the role of a gene linked to diabetes.
Each day, she balanced high-level coursework with rigorous scientific research, an achievement that further proves her scholarly depth and passion for STEM.
Kelly credits her work ethic and resilience to her mother, who often worked overnight shifts as a nurse’s aide and then rushed to her morning job as a home health aide.
Witnessing her mom’s sacrifice fueled Kelly’s determination to turn every opportunity into success. When challenges came, like struggling with Advanced Placement Chemistry, Kelly admitted she needed tutoring.
She emphasized that her story is not one of perfection, but of perseverance. “The biggest part of my achievement is that I am only human and I will make mistakes. It’s not whether or not you fall, it’s whether or not you get up and continue trying,” she said.
She was only the second student in the New York City area to gain admission into all eight Ivy League schools.
The moment she and her mother checked the acceptance letters at home remains one of the most emotional highlights of their lives.
“By the first one, I was in tears of joy. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus,” she screamed as the letters kept coming in,” her mother recalled.
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