Brandon Prayer, left, and Shannon Chambers on the Aiken campus.

One thing is for sure: Shannon Chambers and Brandon Prayer are there for each other. You can see it in their smiles when they greet each other, the way they finish each other's sentences, the way they stand up for each other. These young men, who met at Aiken College and Career High School in their sophomore year, have kept each other focused on the prize: Academic success, college, and career.

And, in what may be the capstone of their academic and personal lives - so far - both were awarded $20,000 scholarships June 9 at the Anthony Munoz Foundation's Hall of Fame dinner.

Shannon, 17, just graduated from Aiken as third in his class with a 4.017  GPA. His list of accomplishments is impressive: a GE Scholar; a member of the National Honor Society, National Society for Black Engineers, Science Club, MORE (Men Organized, Respectful and Educated); and captain of the wrestling team, football team and track. Oh, he also won a $5,000 Straight A Scholarship from the Anthony Munoz Foundation.

Brandon, 18, graduated 10th in his class with a 3.36 GPA. Brandon was president of Student Council, an officer of MORE, member of the National Honor Society, a GE Scholar, and captain of the baseball team. And he's also an Omega scholar, selected for a $10,000 scholarship from  Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Both young men joined Cincinnati Youth Collaborative/Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates their senior year, and both won citywide offices as well as several awards from JCG. JCG is one of the organizations contracted with the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board to provide youth services funded through the Workforce Investment Act.

Their paths to these successes were not a given. "I moved around a lot," said Shannon. "And I was homeless at one point." After Shannon's parents split up, his home life became more chaotic and he went to several schools before landing at Aiken. In his sophomore year he met Brandon in an advanced math class. "But we clicked in our junior year," Shannon said. "When I met Brandon, I told him that to be successful, you have to surround yourself with people who have the same ambitions and dreams that you do."

"When I met Shannon," said Brandon, "I was hanging out with guys I thought were cool. But I started to see that they were not going anywhere. Then I thought, 'He's cool too. But he's not on the wrong path.'"

Brandon, too, had a difficult childhood. The son of a teen-age mom, he lived with his grandparents until the age of 10, and attended seven schools in seven years. Over time, his mother worked her way up to better jobs. He saw first-hand how hard she worked to make a living for her children.

When Shannon had no place to live, Brandon's family took him in, and Shannon lives there now.

Meanwhile, both boys enrolled in JCG. LaStarr Rivers, the JCG specialist at Aiken, encouraged them to think even more about their careers. "JCG has introduced us to many more people - a whole new environment," said Shannon. A public speaking competition at JCG (Shannon came in first, Brandon second) led both boys to meet Anthony Munoz at CYC's FORE Youth Golf Classic.

After their summer internships at General Electric, Shannon and Brandon will be attending the University of Cincinnati where they will share a room in the Gen-1 House - the off-campus housing where first-generation college students live. Brandon plans to study biology in a pre-med program. Shannon is planning to major in architectural engineering. "I feel like we write the books we use as we go through life," Shannon said. "For me, 0 to 17 was the first chapter, and now I'm ready to start Chapter 2."

Added Brandon: "Everyone is not given equal opportunities. For me, the most successful are those who take advantages of the opportunities that come, and then open the doors."