THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409140668 SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL SERIES: Poised at the Threshold The Class of '95 is roaring to get going in life's race SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
ROBBIE SCOTT, handsome and down-to-earth, is no introverted bookworm.
He grooves to the music of hard core rapper Snoop Doggy Dog. He dislikes reading - his Cliffs Notes cq collection attests to that. And he's had his moments as class cut-up, like the time he aimed a spitball at another student and it accidentally landed on his teacher.
But from the beginning, 17-year-old Robert Thomas Scott III, a self-proclaimed math lover, has sparkled academically in school.
His course load this year - during his senior year, no less - includes subjects most students avoid: advanced placement chemistry, calculus, physics, honors English.
When his buddies want to tease him, they'll meticulously explain that Robbie can figure almost anything out by ``calculating the velocity times the speed of light divided by the square root of 90 plus the density of. . . ''
You get the picture.
But Robbie downplays his brain power. He says he just wants to someday have a successful career and nurture a family in a white-picket-fence world. A sharp mind, he said, will take him there.
``With sports you could get hurt, but if you concentrate on your school work, you'll always have something that could help you out,'' he explained. ``I think a lot of people start believing that it's cool to be dumb even when they're in elementary school. That's crazy.''
Robbie was one of those kids who attended summer enrichment camps, got cash for outstanding report cards and received the kind of parental support and guidance that money can't buy.
Mom, an elementary schoolteacher, and Dad, a transportation engineer for the state, always pushed him to do his best. But he really didn't need much encouragement, they said, because he wanted to be a winner.
His motivation? There was his little brother for whom he chose to be an example; his nuclear, extended and church families, which he didn't want to disappoint; and his own drive.
With his nearly 3.6 grade-point average, honor club membership and part-time job, he proves daily that trouble and tragedy are not an inevitable consequence of being young, black and male.
Said his mother, Judy: ``We never wanted him to feel as though he were any less than anyone else.''
Robbie, a student at Suffolk's Nansemond River High, is unsure of the college he'll attend or the profession he'll choose.
He's eyeing Hampton University, Howard University and Morehouse College. And he's still mulling over a future career in chemical engineering, computer science or ophthalmology.
He's certain, however, of his goals for the school year.
He plans to graduate among the top students in his class, get accepted by a ``good school'' and do something - he's not sure what - that others will remember him for.
Secretly, he's also praying that after what may be his final attempt this fall, he'll ace the SAT college entrance exam.
Robbie has yet to ``crack 900'' on the exam, with about 890 as his best so far. The highest possible score is 1600 and many of the nation's top colleges turn up their noses at anything under 1000. A high score can also lead to scholarship offers.
So far, the SAT has been Robbie's only Achilles' heel. ILLUSTRATION: Color Staff photo by Lawrence Jackson
Robert T. Scott, III
by CNB