Keylonnie Miller was born in May 5th, 1999 in Tampa, Florida. While growing up, Keylonnie has had to cope with many family challenges. Her mother struggled with drug abuse her entire life and her father was not extremely present during her childhood. After being removed from her home by the state at the age of 15 months, Keylonnie was placed in the custody of her grandmother. With the love and guidance of her grandmother and others around her she became a determined, driven, and highly motivated individual ready to make her mark on the world.
Throughout elementary school and middle school, Keylonnie excelled academically. Due to her inclination for academics, she decided to challenge herself by participating in the International Baccalaureate program at her local high school. She will graduate salutatorian of the I.B. class.
Keylonnie has exhibited a desire to not only improve her academic standing, but to be an active participant in her local community. It is her life goal to be able to say, when she dies, that she has helped change someone’s life for the better. Through her dedication to helping others, she has made a difference in countless lives by forming a volunteer organization that tutors and mentors students and assists teachers at her former middle school. She also has dedicated countless hours working with the Red Cross and Interact organizations on numerous service projects throughout the area. All of these hours of community service have been completed while working part time and juggling her academic responsibilities.
She strives to promote and spread the idea of tolerance in everything she does. Last year, she took part in the formation of the first African-American pride club at her school, called Club X. The club strives to allow students a better opportunity to learn about African-American culture than currently offered in school and encourage people of different ethnicities and cultures to join.
She forged through some of the hardest times of her life by maintaining her focus of working hard and never dismissing her inner qualities of perseverance, drive, and compassion. Keylonnie strives to show her younger siblings and others that face adversity that when they put their minds to it, they can achieve anything. They can break down barriers and stereotypes.
Keylonnie plans to major in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. If all goes as plan, she aims to graduate with a master’s degree and then continue on to law school.
