Morgan Hicks, Sanai Hicks, and Tony Hicks Jr. are all grown up and have achieved exceptional scholastic accomplishment, graduating with GPAs of 3.7, 3.8, and 3.9, respectively, despite a high-risk pregnancy. They were all awarded scholarships and accepted into over 40 institutions around the country.
However, with a strong desire to stay together in the same city, the triplets agreed that Morgan and Sanai would attend Spelman College, while Tony would attend Morehouse College across the street.
Sharnetta Hicks, their mother, spoke with CBS News Baltimore about their ordeal. Despite confronting considerable risks during her pregnancy, she says she gave birth to the triplets successfully. She remembered a doctor informing her that she should have died within 24 hours of having her three children. Tony Hicks Sr.’s wedding band could fit on the triplets’ hands because they were so small.
After many years and overcoming numerous obstacles, the triplets have accomplished this tremendous feat. One of the triplets, Sanai, mentioned that she had two types of dream schools in mind: mostly white institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In the PWI category, she claimed that Duke was her dream school, while Spelman was her dream school in the HBCU category.
During an interview with USA TODAY, Sanai stated, “My mom, when we were applying, she told us to apply to as many as we possibly could so that we could have options to choose from.”
Sharnetta and her husband wanted their children to be guided, but they also wanted them to be able to pick their own path. Nonetheless, money had a role in the decision-making process. Other schools provided more financial help than Spelman and Morehouse.
The family launched a GoFundMe effort to address the financial issue. Meanwhile, students spent endless hours applying for scholarships and writing admissions essays, working late into the night.
“They would end up doing four or five essays a day to catch up because they were just trying to live out their life and also have fun in school, do social activities, and do service hours,” said Sharnetta.
She was proud of their dedication and hard work in obtaining financial aid for their college studies. Sanai and Morgan each received $18,000 from Spelman to help them get by for the following four years, while Tony Jr. received $60,000. Other organizations also provided individual grants to the children.
Sanai wishes to study law, whilst Morgan wishes to study biology. Tony Jr. wants to study applied physics and work as an aerospace engineer.
