WS Chronicle

By Busta Brown

Trazon Mitchell recently graduated from Stokes Early College High School earning his diploma and two degrees, an associate’s degree in science & an associate’s degree in art while in high school. He was awarded $1,051,792 in scholarships. He completed 500-plus hours of community service, dedicating most of his time as an end of grade prep tutor at London Elementary, as well as a volunteer teacher’s assistant in a second-grade classroom. He has maintained involvement in the community as well.

And that’s not all.

“He basically lived in the hospital with me. I heard him tell his friends, ‘I would go to school and then to the hospital every day,’” Tina Mitchell said about her academically gifted son, Trazon.
During Trazon’s early years in school, his mother said, she went through some complications that kept her in the hospital for sometimes months at a time.

“He was resilient. He would sit with me, and when he noticed I was OK, he’d open up his books and begin studying,” Tina Mitchell said. “I never had to tell him to get his school work done, it was just in him.”

Trazon said the same about his mom.

“My mom was my driving force. She got really sick, she almost died the first time and I was with her in the hospital for weeks at a time. My life was school and hospital, but she made sure I stayed on top no matter what she was going through. I watched her push through it, I watched her overlook and push through a lot. Then, my dad left, I watched mom push through the divorce. Her resilience! She has more resilience than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

His mom is an example of it’s not what you go through, but how you choose to get through it, and it helped Trazon become the young man he is today.

He actively participates in their community, the Walnut Tree Association, by editing the community newsletter. “He did Exodus Ministries Volunteer Landscaping, he’s a member of the National Honor Society, he does mentorship opportunities, town clean up, town meetings, etc.,” said Tina Mitchell. Through his work in the community, he has received the President of the United States’ volunteer service gold award for 500-plus community service hours, nominated as a delegate representing the State of North Carolina at the Congress of Future Medical leaders for academic and community achievement, and received multiple awards from the school, the Falcon Award, Honor Roll, Junior Marshall, Forsyth Tech President’s and Dean’s lists, Physical Science. He also credits his mom for pushing him to attend Stokes Early College High School.

“At first, I did not want to go to the Early College because I did not think I was a good fit. I also did not like the idea of trying something new. My education at the Early College has fortified my ability to think critically, as well as apply conceptual and abstract ideas to real life situations. The rigors of the Early College pushed me to rise to the challenge. I was taught to push the limits of what I thought was possible.”

He received scholarships from 10 schools and some came from outside sources.  UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University gave him full ride scholarships. Some of the other scholarships came from schools such as Western Carolina, Campbell, North Carolina Central, Wingate, among others. 

As he continued down the list of scholarships, I couldn’t help but admire his very humble spirit. He added outside scholarships from the Aubrey Lee Brooks Foundation ($12,000 per year) and the Golden Leaf Foundation ($3,000 per year) to his long list of scholarships, totaling $1,051,848.

His choices ultimately came down to UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State, “because these two schools had provided full rides for my education.  I ultimately chose to pursue computer science at UNC-Chapel Hill.”

Trazon wants to become a software engineer and possibly get into data science or machine learning later on in his career.

I asked him to share something to inspire other youth. “If I can do it, then you most certainly can, too.  Despite, the issues the black community may face in society, we must remember that we can conquer anything we set are minds to.  We have done so in the past and must continue to do so.”