HOUSTON — The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced Saturday that it's awarded nearly $10 million in scholarships to almost 500 students from across the state to put toward a college or university in Texas.
One of those students was Cy-Fair High School graduate Wyatt Lewis. For about half of his life, he had to learn to march to his own beat.
“A lot of people, they have the chance of, at a very young age, they have a chance of seeing someone that they idolize and wanting to be that person," he said. "On my side, I saw someone who I didn't want to be.”
Wyatt's parents were convicted of murder when he was 9 years old.
“It happened at like, 3 a.m. one night. They sat us down, and they told us what happened and what's going to happen from here on out," he said.
He and his brothers ended up staying in the trailer they grew up in with their grandparents.
“It wasn't the best position for us," Wyatt said. "Especially for any kid to grow up in.”
But in stepped his new guardians -- his aunt and uncle -- who lived in Cypress where Wyatt would become an Eagle Scout and graduate from Cy-Fair High School.
“That's whenever I found something I idolized and someone I idolized." he said. "So I kind of got both sides of it, knowing what I don't want to do and what path I don't want to take and what path I do want to take.”
Wyatt is among 494 students who received scholarships from the Rodeo's educational program.
“So many of them are the first in their family to graduate high school," said Chris Boleman, president and CEO of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. "It's just another testament of rewarding those young people so they can go do what they want to do.”
For Wyatt, who plans to be the first in his family to finish college and is headed to Texas A&M, the past doesn't define his future.
“Determination. You know, working towards a goal, knowing what you want, and that may change. But as long as you end up where you want to be it'll always work out," he said.
Wyatt said his parents have been in jail for about eight years now. He said his mom is expected to get out but he'll never see his dad outside of jail.