Mykale Baker Went To His Burger King Shift After Graduation — In Turn, The Community Raised $233K For His Higher Education
Thanks to online support, this recent high school graduate can now afford to go to college.
In May 2025, Mykale Baker received his diploma from Mills Creek High School in Gwinnett County, GA, while adorned with two medals, People reports. Though most graduates might celebrate with a party or dinner with loved ones, Baker instead clocked in to help his co-workers at Burger King. A video of him working at the fast food restaurant in his cap and gown went viral on TikTok, garnering over 706,000 likes (at the time of this writing). Maria Mendoza, 45, was the customer who spotted Baker and shared the video with the caption, “This young man deserves a scholarship!”
@mariabonita528 This young man deserves a scholarship!!!! @Carlos_Eduardo_Espina @Burger King #daculaga #burgerking #youngkid #graduated #hardworking #pesopluma #nuevavida
“I saw him with his sash and medals. I see Mykale right there, just working with a smile,” Mendoza told WSB-TV 2 in Atlanta. “I was like ‘Oh my God.’ My whole world froze and it just moved me, I was like ‘I need to record this.’”
Mendoza’s daughter Daizie had graduated with Baker that day, and daughter Jazmine advised her to create a GoFundMe to support him. Over $233,000 has been raised with funds intended to support his studies in college, according to the GoFundMe page. As people started donating to help Baker, Mendoza returned to the Burger King to break the news to him.
“Honestly, when she told me about the video, I was surprised,” Baker shared with People. “But when she showed me the GoFundMe, I was like, ‘Wow. I might go to college now.’”
Baker has since revealed he will be attending Gwinnett Technical College. According to WSB-TV 2, he aspires to open an auto shop in the future and initially considered taking a gap year to fund his journey in higher learning. However, now he is all set to begin his studies this fall and was able to visit the school’s general automative program and meet Program Director Robert Bauman.
