LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This future Cardinal is starting his college career with quite the nest egg.
Incoming University of Louisville (UofL) pre-med student Frederick "Fred" Meadows will walk across Central High School's graduation stage on Saturday with more than $1 million in college scholarships.
Meadows nursed his passion in the school's nursing program, but it started years before when he lost his great-great grandmother to cancer.
"I said, when I was a kid, 'If I was a doctor, I could have saved her,'" he said.
His great grandmother, Brenda Richardson, always believed in him. She raised Meadows from birth.
"And he's always known what he wanted in life and he went for it," she said. "I knew he was gonna make it, and I know he's going to make it from here."
And he used the nursing program at Central to help him get closer to that goal.
Through that program, it's easy to get a read on how passionate students like Meadows are.
"As a teacher, [Meadows] can challenge me, and I like that," educator Shantel Reed said. "Bring that challenge on. It has to do with his drive, and how strong he is."
And that drive helped him through the shocking experiences of working in real hospitals as a high schooler.
"There was actually a car crash that happened. And you really have to stay level-headed. You have to keep calm so you can save the person," Meadows said. "So I would say that we've all seen some stuff and you know, we've all been through stuff. Whenever I was working in the hospitals, I barely saw anyone that was of my skin color or that looked like me. So I feel that, me becoming a doctor, I can not only spread awareness that black people can do it, but I can actually make a change in this world."
And he said he believes others can tip the scales in their favor just like he did.
"You can do it if you just put in the effort," Meadows said.
Once he goes to UofL, he'll be on track to graduate with a masters in five years.
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