The president of the United States wrote to him advising that he finish his education.
Jesse Grainger is indeed taking President Barack Obama’s handwritten advice, selling the letter he received for $9,500 to use for tuition, the New York Post reports.
Formerly homeless, the young man wrote to Obama some years ago to tell his own story and hopefully get advice. “As a child I had big dreams of going to college and doing great things … I came from a small town where most people were poor, especially my mother and me. My mom adopted me when I was 1 day old. She raised me to believe that education was the most important thing that I could ever get. My adopted mom died when I was 13,” he wrote, according to the news site. “The day I turned 17 I walked out … with a book bag, a few outfits and my mom’s Bible to set out on a journey that has forever changed my life.”
A South Carolina family took Grainger in before he began his social work degree at Winthrop University, but money remains an issue. The student had already taken out $10,000 in loans, the New York Post notes.
When Obama wrote back in 2011, he advised the young man to stay on his course. “Thanks for your letter and your inspirational story. The best advice I can give you right now is finish your education,” the president wrote.
Read more at the New York Post.