(softly, ascending) Oh my — Oh my God! Oh my g— Oh my g--
Oh my God!!
Oh my God!!! Oh my (covers mouth)!
Oh my God!
ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
Oh my — Oh my god!! *normal voice* Oh my god.
Oh my god! Oh - my - God!! (increases in speed and loudness)
I just need to like --
I just need to run.
Oh my God!
What? Oh my God!
Oh my Goddd!
Oh my GOD!!!!!
I got in!
What? (existential crisis)
What? In the world!
Oh my GOD!! Wha--
Oh my God! Oh my God... Oh my God...
Oh my God. Oh my God.
[cheerful yelling with laughing in the background]
So..
I got into UCLA!
Look at my pin!
I—I still can't believe it,
I can't process it,
but...
I got in.
Which...
means so much more to me than you guys know.
You can't really see my face so I'm gonna take this off, but *kiss*
Getting into UCLA means so much more than getting into a great school.
It is a fantastic school; it's extremely hard to get into.
But it means so much more to me than, "Now I can get into a great school!"
Sorry if this is like, a little bit jumbled around. I'm still very much in shock and I don't have any like, talking points or anything.
I'm just gonna ramble.
I just wanna talk to guys about this whole situation.
I waited to tell you guys, 'cause I wanted to make sure that I was actually going before I told anybody.
It would suck if I was like,
"I got into UCLA, but I'm not going..."
But,
I am going. Now, now I know that I'm actually going.
I was on the waitlist,
So...
It's very, very hard to get in off the waitlist, so
at that point I was kind of just accepting, that,
"Oh, I didn't get in. That's okay, you can go to another school."
And when I found out that I got in, I was really confused because my
grades, and my SAT scores, and my ACT scores were not high.
They didn't show that I was some genius, but,
I got in because of my essays and because of my extra-curriculars and
how passionate I was about everything.
I guess it just showed me that all the work I put in
and how, almost maniacally, I worked
for my whole life, on something that wasn't school
wasn't crazy. That it was worth it.
And that I wasn't wasting my time.
I got in UCLA because of my essays that I wrote. Not because of my grades, because
of my essays. And two out of the four of my essays were about the things that I learned through my journey of making videos
and talking to you guys.
I learned so much about making videos.
But the thing that I learned the most about was people.
I learned so much about how you treat people, and how people treat you,
and how the world reacts to things,
and what to do in certain situations.
And I learned so, so, so much about people, because
of Youtube.
And that's what I wrote about in my essays.
It's crazy that this thing that I did —
making videos — has come full-circle, and
now I got into the college that I've been wanting to go to since I was in elementary school.
Because of you guys.
So. there's nothing I can really say other than thank you.
Thank you very, very much.
Um, there's, I — There's no way I could thank you enough with words, just.
Thank you. It really means a lot.
When I was younger, I really didn't think that
I would, um...
I'm going to get emotional, dang it.
When I was younger I didn't really think that I was going to have a very bright future.
Because I was in a bad situation,
and making videos for me was, really, a way for me to escape.
I worked so hard on these
for so long since I was in elementary school
because I always had this dream
that, if I did well on this, that I could
move away and I could
be successful and
pave my own future, that was unlike
the one that I was destined to have,
due to my circumstances.
And that whole time I was working so hard, and staying up 'til 3 in the morning during middle school and high school,
that whole time I really felt crazy. I felt so stupid for wasting so much of my time and so much of my youth on making videos.
But I kept doing it because I still had that dream, I still had that dream. But I felt so crazy for having that dream, but
getting into UCLA is proof that I wasn't crazy. And it's proof that all that hard work paid off in the end
and that it's not stupid to dream so big.
It's not stupid; it's never stupid to dream big.
Despite what every single adult told me, and even my peers telling me,
"You can't do that. You're not gonna be able to do that."
I don't know. It still happened.
It still worked out.
Getting into this school means so much more than just getting into this school.
Where I’m from, and all the things that happened to me —
so many things I haven’t told you, and so many things that I haven’t told anybody —
I really didn’t ever think I was going to be able to…
Be right here, where I am right now:
in a room with a roof over my head and, and in a safe home, and...
going to a great school, and being able to follow my dreams.
All those things, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do.
Because of this, just, unfathomable support that I’ve had from, from you guys,
I was able to do all those things! And it’s mind-boggling because,
at this point of my life, all these big goals that I’ve been
trying to achieve for so long have been achieved,
and I almost don’t know what to do with myself now.
I guess, just, set even bigger goals —
which is gonna be hard to do because I already thought this was crazy.
I’m already past the point of sappiness, but…
This is really a sappy moment for me. It means the entire world to me.
Being able to follow my dreams is something I didn’t think I would ever be able to do, so.
Because of you guys, and because of all the friends I have who…
Opened their arms to me so willingly,
and brought me into their homes and took care of me;
all of the families who loved me like I was their son;
and my parents; and… Just everybody who helped me so much,
without me ever being able to repay them. I have to say thank you.
‘Cause this wasn’t me. I didn’t get into this school because of me.
I don’t have this job because of me. It’s not me, it’s you guys.
And it’s all those people who… Who loved me so much, without… question.
And I guess I will be moving to Los Angeles in a… Pretty soon.
Um, there’s still a lot to do before I go to school.
There’s still a small chance that I won’t even be able to go to this school.
But if everything goes as planned, I will be going to UCLA, which is crazy!
I can’t believe I’m saying that! I can’t believe those words are coming out of my mouth!
I’m guessing a bunch of you guys are gonna ask what my scores are.
I got a 1290 on the SAT, and a 26 on the ACT.
If you know anything about college, those scores are very low for a school like UCLA.
My GPA was a 4.3. I took a lot of AP classes, I worked my butt off,
and I think that the school saw that I worked my butt off.
I really did work my butt off; everyone around me knows how much I worked my butt off.
That’s why I ain’t got no butt. It’s gone! I worked it right off.
I guess this is happening!
Thank you for everything, everybody. Thank you for everything.
I’ll see you in a few days with a brand new video.
God bless and goodbye!