BEYOND BR

By: Kenya Carney, Class of 2020

Born and raised in Baton Rouge, College Fellow Tyler Williams thought his only options for college would be within the Capital area. The Scotlandville Magnet High School graduate was initially skeptical of joining BRYC, wondering if he’d fnd value in it. He eventually realized the organization offered nothing but good things for him, including opening his eyes to the vast postsecondary possibilities outside Louisiana.

Tyler entered his senior year with a 29 on the ACT and near-perfect grades. He’d had little exposure to colleges other than Southern and LSU but was open to expanding his horizons. He decided to apply for the QuestBridge National College Match program, which connects high-achieving, low-income high school students with full scholarships at its “partner colleges” — some of the best in the country. The process is daunting, but Tyler took it on and was successful, ultimately being “matched” with his top-choice school, Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Although it isn’t the most well-known QuestBridge partner college, Grinnell is a top liberal arts school and a standout for improving college access and affordability.

Although Grinnell is a predominantly white college, the opposite of Tyler’s Scotlandville experience, he has transitioned smoothly. In fact, he has excelled, not only as a computer science major but a campus leader and young entrepreneur. Tyler is president of the Concerned Black Students Association (CBS), which was in jeopardy of folding due to a lack of leadership when Tyler made the decision to run for offce. Tyler has also launched a couple of on-campus ventures, including a barbershop and a company called “Stix,” which sells stick-shaped waffes and has a web-based app Tyler built that lets students place orders from all over campus. He has even thrived outside the country, studying computer science at the University of Ghana in Accra during spring of his junior year.

Tyler has also done well professionally. In the summers after his sophomore and junior years, Tyler interned as a software engineer at John Deere and was offered a full-time job which he later turned down. That’s because, after he graduates in May 2019, he will move to New York City to begin working as a technology consultant at Adobe, a worldrenowned computer software company. His risk-taking and hard work have paid off.

Although initially apprehensive, Tyler said leaving home was the best decision he ever made, especially since he’d spent his whole life in the Red Stick. “Outside of Baton Rouge, you become a more well-rounded person and gain different perspectives on what goes on in the world. You’re just stuck in a box if you stay in one place and don’t open your mind and explore outside of your comfort zone,” Tyler said.

When asked what advice he would give other Fellows considering attending college out of state, Tyler said, “Don’t be scared to fail. Your comfort zone is always going to be there. If things go south, you can always come back.” Tyler said that, thanks to BRYC, he was pushed far beyond what he ever thought would be comfortable for him, and he urges all people to do the same.