Month: October 2025

Huffman graduate starts third year at Auburn, continues march to career in cancer research

Posted on October 20, 2025

Sparked by his maternal grandfather’s death, Markelle Scott developed a passion early on for a career in cancer research. Birmingham Promise helped put him on a path to make that dream come true.

When he was a senior at Huffman High School, Markelle got an early career boost as a Birmingham Promise intern in an oncology lab at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. “It was a very great experience that introduced me to the basics of cancer research,” Scott said in his valedictory address at Huffman. “Through the Birmingham Promise internship, I’ve had a head start in pursuing my career”

As he headed to Auburn University, Birmingham Promise also helped him with tuition and other support on his journey toward a degree in biomedical sciences. Now in his junior year, Markelle has continued to build on the opportunities he received and to make progress toward his goals.

Starting his freshman year, he began working as an undergraduate research assistant studying metastatic melanoma in Auburn’s College of Pharmacy. He’s now entering his third year in the job.

This past summer, he completed a summer internship at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. After applying for the program and being accepted, Markelle worked as a research fellow at the Anschutz Medical Campus from May to August, focusing on thyroid cancer that has become resistant to treatments.

In 2023, Markelle was among the first cohort of students interviewed and selected to be part of Auburn’s Melton Scholars Program, which not only offers financial assistance to outstanding students but also supports their academic achievement, professional development and overall success on campus and beyond.

The program is named for 1988 Auburn graduate Harold Melton, a former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and Auburn’s first Black student body president. Through it, Markelle is part of an impressive peer group and a unique network of advisors who are invested in his success.

For Markelle, though, assistance is a two-way street; he also seizes opportunities to provide help to his peers. He currently works on campus as a learning assistant, a job that allows him to help fellow students in Calculus I understand and apply the content.

Markelle encourages students to take advantage of all the resources that are available to them. If they’re a Birmingham Promise student, that means ongoing coaching and other supports. Even if they’re not with Birmingham Promise, on-campus tutoring and a wide range of other supports can help students get through rough patches.

Markelle is not shy in saying he’s been on both sides of providing – and needing — help. “I’ve had my high points and low points,” he said. As his classes have gotten more advanced and more challenging – physics is currently his hardest course – Markelle has been proactive in taking steps to stay on top of his studies.

It would be easy to look at his academic and career accomplishments and think Markelle is all work and no play. But he says that’s not the case. He lives off-campus in an apartment with two roommates, and he finds time to spend time with his friends and pursue interests outside of academics and career. He also leads a small group with one of his friends, a space where he and his friends read, interpret, and discuss the Bible.

“In college, it’s a very big thing to find a good balance,” he said. “College burnout is real. If you don’t take time to do things for yourself – enjoying a hobby or having fun with your friends – you can lose your identity. You must keep doing the things that make you who you are.”

Finding that balance has not deterred Markelle one bit from his goals.

Although he at one time considered medical school, and he may yet go that route, his current goal is to keep working toward a Ph.D. in cancer biology or molecular biology – and his dream career in cancer research.

“I definitely made the right decision in choosing this path,” Markelle said.

A double dose of tuition: Birmingham Promise helps twins get through college

Posted on October 14, 2025

Growing up in Birmingham, twins Davon and Javon Young had every intention of getting a college degree. But they didn’t know exactly how.

They spent most of their childhood in their grandmother’s home, a household overflowing with cousins and love – but not with adults who had attended college or who could afford a double dose of tuition.

They were fortunate that Parker High School’s graduates in 2020 were among the first class to benefit from a new program called Birmingham Promise, which offers college tuition to all graduates of Birmingham City Schools.

“That was the first blessing,” said Javon, who is finishing his last semester at Alabama A&M University and hopes to become a life coach.

But tuition was not the only investment Birmingham Promise made in the twins’ college journey. Javon and Davon credit Birmingham Promise with helping them not only pay for college but also navigate many bumps along the way.

Davon, who will graduate from A&M in May and hopes to become a therapist, said knowing that tuition was covered lightened the load, but the ongoing guidance may have made an even bigger difference.  “The success coaches had multiple meetings to keep us on track,” Davon said. “It helped develop us and push us beyond being worried about finances. You can’t even ask for anything better than that.”

While they’re now in their last months of completing degrees in psychology, they’ve at times had to juggle classes and work, navigate multiple living arrangements, and learn how to be on their own, even as they crystallized their plans for the future. Through it all, their success coach was a steadying force.

“It’s amazing how fast life hits you,” Javon said. “You are away from home, dealing with all that stuff you can’t control. It’s just a little more reassurance that somebody’s got my back.”

The twins also had an internal drive to succeed. Their dreams of college started as early as kindergarten, and those thoughts were reinforced by the life experiences they saw around them. They watched classmates who didn’t even consider going to college or learning a trade, and they didn’t like where it led.

“I just looked and said, ‘What everyone else is doing is not working,’” Javon said, “so I’m going to go to college.”

And with help from Birmingham Promise, the brothers can now see a huge milestone on the horizon. After they finish at A&M, they both hope to go to graduate school. Davon already has what he hopes is a line on a job thanks to a career connection he made in an internship with the city of Huntsville.

Both of the twins already have worked as volunteers in conflict resolution in schools and other settings. Though it’s not paid, it is valuable experience and it is a way of paying it forward, too.

“We’re not really into it for the funds,” Javon said. “It’s about helping the community.”

The twins’ only regret is that programs like Birmingham Promise aren’t available for students everywhere, especially those from minority communities who face multiple barriers to higher education.

They feel bad for college friends at A&M who received scholarships that provided only financial resources but not coaching like Birmingham Promise. When Javon has the opportunity, he tells young Birmingham City Schools students that Birmingham Promise is special and to take advantage of the opportunities it provides.

“I don’t know how we can make it bigger or better,” he said, “but it’s a blessing for anyone.”