By BOTWC Staff
Mario Hoover is a junior at Providence-St. Mel School, a private college prep school established in 1978 on Chicago’s West Side. Hoover is a pretty active student, participating in concert choir, track and debate at school, also taking the time to volunteer at the local hospital and participate in the community boys and girls club. When it was time to prepare for the ACT, he buckled down, enrolling himself in an ACT prep course and using various practice exams as a tool for studying.
The prep worked in his favor, Hoover getting his test results back to discover that he had gotten a perfect score of 36, the first student to ever accomplish such a feat in the school’s 44-year history. While Mario said he was excited, he was also shocked to realize that he could really do it.
Principal Timothy Ervin said students like Mario are indeed the future and their accomplishments set precedent for generations to come.
“He is the future of Black history, in the sense that he has made history here in the present and that’s going to live on forever,” said Ervin.
Mario has plans to attend Columbia University when he graduates, aspiring to earn a degree in neuroscience with a minor in music. He hopes other students learn from his story and realize that they too have the capacity to do things they’ve never imagined if they just put their mind to it.
“I want others to know that they can do the same. I’ve been saying a lot today that we are all capable of more than we think we can do,” he said.
Congratulations, Mario! The sky is just the beginning!
