Arlington Teen Makes A Wish To Further His Education
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - When the Make-a-Wish Foundation of North Texas asked an Arlington teen to dream big, he chose a chance at an education.
"Why not make a wish that would help me in life, further my education," Tane Johnson explained.
Johnson has suffered from a life threatening neurological illness that mimics strokes since he was 11 years old. It meant missing many days from school. His GPA took a dive. Getting into his dream school started to feel like an unattainable dream.
"I felt it was stolen from me. Some days I couldn't get out of bed," the teen explains.
On Monday, UT Arlington alumni and close friends hid in the teen's kitchen as they waited for him to come home. They surprised him with a celebratory pep rally.
"I just wanted to go home and take a nap," joked the stunned student.
"Looking at his face, it was just glowing," said Thanalaxmi Johnson, his proud mother.
"He's a really smart kid and the illness has put him in a deficit," explained Robert Johnson, his father.
UT Arlington's Assistant Director of Undergraduate recruitment explained this was a special case. While Johnson's GPA had suffered, he had excellent test scores and glowing recommendations from teachers. They were also blown away by his character.
"How often, when you hear about these Make-a-Wish events is it something like 'I want to go to a university. I want to go to this school because I want to be an engineer.' Someone that is saying 'this is my ultimate wish,' we obviously want that student at UT Arlington," explained Andi Scott.
Johnson had learned the previous night via email that he had been accepted into his dream school. At the pep rally, the Make-a-Wish Foundation surprised him by revealing it would be helping to pay for 1st year tuition and expenses.
"This beats a nap by a long shot," Johnson said.
And now he'll join his best friends starting at UT Arlington in the Fall, who say it wouldn't have been the same without him.
"It's not just friends anymore. We are basically family. It's something really special," said Christian Gross, a longtime friend.
