By Gary Lloyd
A Clay-Chalkville High School senior has defied medical odds and earned a full-ride scholarship.
Joseph Walter graduated last week, finishing No. 20 in his senior class. Walter has Pompe disease, a genetic disease that disables the heart and skeletal muscles.
Walter also was recently awarded a full-ride scholarship to Kaplan University, worth around $60,000, said Clay-Chalkville High School Principal Michael Lee.
Kaplan is an online college. Walter wants to be an FBI criminal profiler and will study psychology and criminal justice.
Walter, a homebound student who does his work on his computer, earned three awards at the high school’s awards night. Walter was named the environmental science student of the year for finishing the semester with a perfect average.
“He’s just an amazing kid,” Lee said.
Lee said you can sense how amazing Walter is by sitting with him for two minutes. He said he believes Walter could run a Fortune 500 company.
“It will amaze you to sit with him,” Lee said.
As of May 14, 61 Clay-Chalkville seniors had earned 136 scholarships totaling $5.03 million.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.