Sometimes when you write about someone, they just kind of stick in your mind over the years and you wonder how things turned out.


For Jeffrey Akins, the promise seemed so great. A 2008 graduate of Seminole High, he won a scholarship to the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota. I featured him in a story as representative of Seminole County's hundreds of high school graduates that year.

So it was unsettling when I received an e-mail from Superintendent Bill Vogel today with word that Jeffrey had died suddenly.

I don't have the details, but the note said Jeffrey "passed away last night after surgery for the removal of fluid from around his heart."

What was so striking about Jeffrey was his obvious talent in graphic art. And what was so unusual , especially if you have been around Florida for awhile, was that it sprung from a poor black kid raised in the Midway farm community east of Sanford.

Many had been rooting for Akins, who was unsure how he would manage college costs that weren't covered by the scholarship. He was the first black student from Seminole High to attend the prestigious art school. He was reaching for a personal milestone as well.

"Nobody in my family ever went to college," he told me, in wonder at his good luck.

Jeffrey drew on his deep religious experience in his Midway church for much of his art inspiration, and that apparently continued with his work at college.

Phi YoBa, fine arts instructor at Seminole High, said he spoke with Jeffrey just a couple of weeks ago and he was on top of the World with hopes and aspirations.

"He is a great example of the type of student that Seminole High School produces," YoBa said.