Supporting Olatayo's College Journey

Dear loved ones and supporters,

We are incredibly proud (and a bit sad) that our firstborn son, big brother, nephew, mentor, coach, and friend, Olatayo, is off to start his career at Stanford University.

Since he learned to walk, he's been blazing his own path with his gifts—especially in basketball and coding. At 11 years old, he went viral for creating an original iOS game, impressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and traveled to Saudi Arabia as an invited speaker at a global tech conference. A short few years later, he went viral for breaking ankles on the AAU circuit in 8th grade, landing a spot on SportsCenter.

Basketball and coding became a central part of Tayo's journey, and he wrote about them in his college essays.

"There are few things I cherish more than my orange leather Wilson basketball. Although the ball is easily replaceable, it represents a central aspect of my life that has grounded me in community, comforted me in times of distress, and instructed me on how to better live out my values...Every film session offers an opportunity to encourage responsibility among my teammates. Every practice allows me to lead my team with a dedication to excellence. Every game teaches me to adjust to unexpected hardship and maintain hope until the final buzzer. I cherish my orange leather Wilson basketball because it’s more than that; it’s my connection to teammates, my road to peace, and my route to principles."

"When I was introduced to coding, I embraced it because I fell in love with the process; I could lose myself in the intricate structure of functions, if statements, and loops while trying to fix a bug. Following fifth grade, however, I sought to create something that would make an actual influence. I dedicated my summer to designing, coding, and refining an iOS game that I could publish to the App Store."

We watched him train like Stephen Curry, another undersized point guard, who, in Tayo's words, "embodies [his] pursuit of positive innovation on and off the court." Before graduating, Tayo helped lead his team to unprecedented success with multiple league and section championships as a 4-year varsity starter and 2-year captain, complementing his individual accolades as an All-League performer and team MVP.

We also watched him explore new domains in computer science, as he scored a perfect 5 on the AP Computer Science exam as a freshman, challenged himself in advanced C++ and Java classes, and accompanied his traditional education with myriad projects ranging from AI connect four, handwritten digit recognition software, and an iOS time management app.

Finally, we watched him flourish as a dedicated student, earning a straight-A 4.3 GPA, a perfect ACT score, distinction as a National Merit Scholar and Presidential Scholar candidate, and the title of his class's Valedictorian.

No journey is without challenge, but we know Tayo is destined for a life of generosity, vision, and impact. In college, Tayo hopes to pursue computer science, machine learning, and entrepreneurship in hopes of making positive global impact with scalable tech services.

We want him to be as free from financial burden as possible, and to continue blazing his own path—we appreciate your support! It certainly takes a village!

With love,

Sobomehin Family