speaks volumes, steve. half the battle is showing up. >> reporter: snow on the spot, collins smith who just happened to be in the auditorium that day, awarded xavier a scholarship. x xavier was thrilled. albeit for the wrong reason. >> he thought a full ride meant he would get a ride to college, like that he wouldn't have to walk here again. >> reporter: functionally he's got four years of high school to process what it all means. her >> the whole engineering piece that you want to do. >> reporter: he plans to keep up his grades which were already excellent and keep stoking the fire in his belly. >> it basically comes from who i am and the kind of person that i want to be. >> reporter: which is the same kind of person latonia collins smith wants in her school. speak often times the colleges we spent a lot of time on standardized test scores because
where last month school president putin collins smith awarded a four-year scholarship to a boy she just met. knew virtually nothing about. >> that kid that, it was something that resonated with m. >> reporter: 14-year-old savior jones had started the day on the mission. his grandfather's car wasn't working and xavier really wanted to be someplace of he started walking. 6 miles. two hours through tough neighborhoods, busy traffic, and blazing sun. at one point he got so thirsty he begged someone for a dollar to buy some to drink. thought about turning back but pressed on. all just so he could walk another 30 feet and collect his eighth-grade diploma. >> if you, like, really want to get something then you have to work hard for it. >> he wanted to be present.