"My mother was very young when she had me . As a parent , she and my dad raised me with the help of my grandmother , who provided us a place to live . At the age of two , my brother Gary Thomas was born . During this time , my dad kept getting in trouble with the law . He got arrested multiple times for drugs and other things that he did with his so called "friends" . The reason I say so called is because his "friends" were no where to be found when he got in trouble , but his best friends , Nate and Duane were always there to support him , get him help and tried to get him off the streets But it was too late . On December 8th , 2001 , a patrol officer saw a red Honda in a neighborhood known for drug trafficking . An officer noticed the car had a broken taillight and an unreadable 30-day tag and decided to stop the vehicle, a chase started. It was my dad trying to elude the police . He threw out an unknown substance (drugs) and when the cops tried to stop him he attempted to run an officer over . With no other attempt to stop him , the officer fired several shots which killed my dad instantly . My dad's last words that were repeated over and over again were "I'm not going back to jail " and he was right , he wasn't going back to jail instead he ended in a 6 ft grave . My dad was a great father to me . Although, his bad decisions ended his life . He will always be my dad and I will remember him forever and always ." -Raiquan Thomas
WITH A 3.47 GPA RAIQUAN FOUND AN OUTLET TO ESCAPE THE HARSH REALITIES OF LIFE, HIS VOICE AND PERFORMING ARTS. HE MANAGED TO EARN OVER $70,000 WORTH OF SCHOLARSHIP MONEY FROM DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. HE RECEIVED $4,000 FROM THE SCHERZO MUSIC CLUB AND 1,000 FROM THE VIRGINIA CHORAL SOCIETY. HE WAS ALSO OFFERED $43,000 FROM SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY AND $27,500 FROM HART SCHOOL OF MUSIC DANCE AND THEATRE. HE HAS ALSO RECEIVED $5000 FROM JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE WILL BE ATTENDING IN THE FALL. RAIQUAN IS AN AMAZING KID AND I CAN TELL THAT HE IS ON HIS WAY TO THE TOP.
