A set of bright Baltimore triplets are celebrating a major milestone as they start college together at two historic HBCUs in Atlanta.
With the support of their parents, triplets Morgan Hicks, Sanai Hicks, and Tony Hicks Jr., graduated with 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9 GPAs, respectively. They have all received scholarships and were accepted to over 40 schools across the country, USA Today reports.
Ultimately, however they wanted to be in the same city. Morgan and Sanai chose Spelman College, while their brother Tony will be just across the street at Morehouse College.
Sharnetta Hicks, the mother of the now college-bound triplets, told CBS News Baltimore that she had a high-risk pregnancy and recalled that at the time, a doctor told her that she should have died within 24 hours of her three children being born.
The triplets were born one minute apart and were severely premature, each weighing less than two pounds. According to the siblings’ parents, their children were so small that their tiny hands could fit through the wedding band of their father, Tony Hicks Sr.
Over nearly two decades, these proud parents say they kept their triplets focused on their faith and academics to accomplish their dreams of attending college.
“They’ve told me stories about the struggles they’ve gone through and how my mom wasn’t able to finish college, but then she was able to go back, and she wanted us to push through, so I’m doing it for her, and I’m doing it for my dad because he wasn’t able to finish college,” daughter Sanai Hicks said.
“Mom wants the best for all of us and taught us to want the best out of ourselves,” son Tony Hicks Jr. said.
This family of five worked together so that the triplets could achieve their goal of going to college together, including writing countless scholarship essays.
“It’s very expensive for one child, let alone three, so they expressed numerous times ‘scholarships, you have to be on top of your scholarships,’” daughter Morgan Hicks said.
“I feel like being able to do this and actually being from Baltimore shows that you can do this, you just have to put in the work,” Sanai Hicks said.
“I’ve taught that to my kids,” Sharnetta Hicks said. “When everything just seems messed up, just know that something great is around the corner.”