NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH: Chicago Student Offered $1 Million In Scholarships

 Children come to the attention of child protective service agencies for a myriad of reasons, from different situations, and a multitude of backgrounds. Often older children available for adoption are left in foster care, unadopted, and in need of life skills to be productive citizens.

*Every year, approximately 18,000 youth will emancipate — or "age-out"— from the foster care system when they reach age 18 or finish high school. Youth in foster care often do not get the help they need with high school completion, employment, accessing health care, continued educational opportunities, housing and transitional living arrangements. Studies of youth who have left foster care have shown they are more likely than those in the general population to not finish high school, be unemployed, and be dependent on public assistance. Many find themselves in prison, homeless, or parents at an early age.

 The following article comes from Chicago, it highlights that not all children who are in "the system" or "age-out" follow the status quo.

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Aug 13, 2009 5:49 pm US/Central

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

A lot of kids are getting ready to head off to college and, it's a great accomplishment.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker talked to one Chicago student had a much longer road to go before he got on the right path.

"I got over a million dollars in scholarships. It's very exciting," said Derrius Quarles.

He received $1,150,000 to be exact. Quarles is a graduate of Kenwood High School who was offered $755,000 from nearly a dozen colleges, which he turned down. He accepted $355,000 in scholarships and will now attend Morehouse College. He earned all of this while being a ward of the state.

"My father was killed in this city when I was four years old and I was taken away from my mother shortly after that. My mother had a drug problem," he said.

To say he has succeeded against huge odds is almost an understatement. Quarles credits his success to his determination to go to college, his ability to accept his past, and not use it as an excuse.

"I had to come to accept what happened. I had no part in it, in my circumstances. But it is my responsibility to. It's all about how I'm going to overcome that," he said.

He's not only an inspiration because of the painful past he's overcome, but as a million dollar scholarship baby Quarles is also an example of how hard work can pay off for any student.

Quarles began searching for scholarships when he was a sophomore. He says he applied to more than 40 and quickly learned the essay was key. He didn't just write about his past. Most of the time he wrote about the time he joined the Kenwood Swim Team nearly drowned.

"To give the reader a sense I gained a lifelong lesson from that one experience, I think that tells someone about you and your character," he said.

While the essay is key, it helps that Quarles has a 4.2 GPA, got a 28 on the ACT, and had a counselor like Lynda Parker who was honored to write a recommendations for a student she knows will meet his future goals.

"He really made it happen when all the stats says it shouldn't. He could have given up. He could have just said I'm not supposed to make it, but instead he said 'no I can and I will' and he did," said Parker.

Quarles plans to pursue a career in medicine. He leaves for Morehouse College in Atlanta on Saturday.

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*To support National Adoption Month we are supplying gift certificates to a local organization, Foster Care Support Foundation. You can assist in this effort by making a donation here.