Transcript for A Chicago teenager’s hard work and determination pays off in a big way
Finally tonight, “America’s strong.” The anxious moments for one Chicago teen whose dreams were just a click away. This is the moment Amado Candelario had been waiting for. I got in! Oh, my god, I got in! Reporter: Finding out he just got into Harvard. I worked so hard for something, and I didn’t know if it was going to come true. Reporter: Working hard, that’s something he learned from his mother, a waitress, who came here from Mexico. Raising Amado and his two sisters by herself. My mother came to this country with nothing but the clothes on her back, we lived paycheck to paycheck. Reporter: Along the way Amado kept striving, getting to the top of his class, co-captain of his nationally recognized school’s debate team, active in his community to help immigrants. He says his family was always there for him. They were always there to tell me that I did matter, and that I could do anything that I set my mind to, and here I am doing exactly that. Reporter: And he’ll take that work ethic he learned from his mother, and that love from his family, all the way to Harvard next fall. Never give up. I never gave up, and look where I’m going now. Congratulations to Amado. We thank him for sharing his story. We thank you for watching. I’m Tom llamas in New York.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
