Free Ride finalist hopes difficult road leads to beautiful destination

One of our Free Ride finalists hopes the difficult road will lead to a beautiful destination.That is the hope for Free Ride finalist Rowdy Autry. The Epic Charter school student is passionate about his education, with a 3.8 GPA, and is also taking classes concurrently at Oklahoma Christian University.He was just accepted into Oklahoma State University.”I plan to major in secondary education…because I really want to teach kids to enjoy learning,” Autry said.Rowdy is also passionate about the community, using his free time to give back. He created a community service project with Daylight Donuts called ‘Holes for the Homeless.’”I deliver some of their donuts to the homeless shelters around the city. Just first started off as there were leftover donuts so I figured we can take them over there,” Autry said.One of his teachers said, “What I find impressive about Thomas is that he can easily put others over himself.”Lending a helping hand comes second nature to him, but unfortunately, in some respects, life hasn’t been as kind back.”Just trying to break my cycle of poverty, to be honest. It’s been really hard,” Autry said.To say it’s been really hard is an understatement. He and his family have had to overcome the unimaginable.”Back in I think 2013 or 2014…my mom’s ex-husband was domestically abusive. He was honestly awful. I was lucky to never be hit myself, but I was scared for my mother’s life. I had come in one day and I seen him hitting her, one time choking her….so eventually, we just had to get out of there,” Autry said.That’s when he said it got even worse.”And at the time my mom had just gotten a cancer diagnosis. So it was all kind of coming down at once,” Autry said.The journey has been long but all roads led to Eskridge Lexus and a welcome detour after years of struggle.His mom, now in remission from cancer, could barely contain her emotion.”It’s life-changing. It is. I’m so proud of him, he’s worked so hard, he’s such a good kid. It’s very exciting,” she said.So, what would it all mean to him and his family?”This would change my life immensely. Twenty-five grand…that’s almost two years’ worth of college where I’m going. It’s stressful thinking about all the money that goes into college. But I think with this scholarship, a lot of that could change…really quickly,” Autry said.The road hasn’t been easily, but fueled by optimism, he is ready to embrace whatever is next.