Student first at Prairie Ridge to be admitted to Yale

Prairie Ridge High School senior Aidan O'Connor is the first student from the Crystal Lake school to be accepted to Yale University, officials said.

"My family and I were gathered around our computer, honestly not expecting much," O'Connor said in a news release. "I logged in and a video with the Yale fight song started playing! The rest of that day was quite surreal. I'm still in disbelief that I was accepted to such a prestigious university."

O'Connor applied to several top universities, including Northwestern, Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon. Yale was his first choice.

O'Connor is involved in several extracurricular activities, including speech team, freshman mentoring, Madrigals, A Cappella Choir, and theater.

"Each of these activities has given me a unique chance to impact the lives of others, and I am grateful for all of the opportunities I have received while at Prairie Ridge," O'Connor said.

O'Connor said he believes he was accepted to Yale because of his passion for everything, from classes to extracurricular activities. He credits his success to teachers.

"I want to personally thank each and every one of my teachers at Prairie Ridge who have gone above and beyond to prepare me for the future both as a student and as an adult. I am extremely blessed to be in the presence of such genuine, caring people each and every day."

He plans to study ethics, economics, and politics at Yale and pursue a career in law or politics.

O'Connor is not the first Prairie Ridge student to be accepted into an Ivy League university or other prestigious colleges. Others have gone on to attend Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania State University, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in California, officials said.