Out of all Apopka public school students in the class of 2026, only one received admission to either Harvard or Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Recent Wekiva High School graduate Daniel Idowu was accepted to both and has decided to attend MIT on a full-ride scholarship to study computer science. If that were not enough, he also received a $40,000 scholarship from Amazon, with a guaranteed internship at the technology giant after freshman year. 

“Daniel is the embodiment of hard work and academic discipline; his relentless drive to be the absolute best has set a new standard of excellence at Wekiva High School,” said Wekiva High School principal Anthony Russell in an email to The Apopka Chief. “He is not just a scholar, but a model for every student here to see what is possible through dedication.” 

Idowu has been coding since third grade and started a software company during his freshman year. 

“It was like packages for game developers that they can implement in their games,” he said. “Let’s say they need an animation. It’sbasically fully customizable, and they’ll just buy that specific thing, and they can implement it in their games.” 

Eventually, representatives from the Elevation Scholars program visited Wekiva High School. Idowu had originally decided against applying because he doubted he would be accepted, but Wekiva college and career specialist Lettita Williams encouraged him to try anyway. Now, Idowu credits his success to Elevation. 

“It’s one of the greatest opportunities for sure,” he said. “I know I wouldn’t be where I am without them, and it’s such a blessing to have.” 

According to Idowu, Elevation provides scholarships, essay coaches, SAT tutors, college tours and more to “high-achieving students with low income.” For Idowu, Elevation gave him the courage and knowledge to apply for the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship and pursue an education at his dream school. 

“When I was in sixth grade, I went to Lockhart, and we went to UF, and that was the only college I’d seen,” he said. “But then Elevation helped me shoot higher, and then I’ll land somewhere among the stars… I think it’s just a big thing of having faith and just putting yourself out there.” 

Looking back on the skills he gained at Wekiva, Idowu said he is proud of his ability to discipline and advocate for himself. 

“There’s so many things that you can get to see, get to do — opportunities that you get just because you aren’t scared of someone saying no to you,” he said. “I think that’s a really big lesson. Schools obviously like to teach you subjects and all that, but a bigger part is to prepare you for the real world, just like college does.” 

Idowu said he hopes to start a business after MIT and help “the next generation of students, especially the ones who are disadvantaged.” 

“I’ve always been around people who are in similar situations to me in terms of opportunities, first-gen, or whatever else the case may be, like low-income,” he said. “All the people, like teachers, counselors, programs, communities, who pour into students — especially from backgrounds where they don’t have those opportunities — I think that’s one of the coolest things ever, and I want to do something like that, too.”