When Alec McGlory was in ninth grade, he devised a plan to take over the world. The list included graduating from Harvard or Yale University and governing Massachusetts. Then, he would build a palace for his mother.
He was a history buff who soaked up works on World War II and the Korean War. He read biographies of former President Franklin Roosevelt, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and the Band of Brothers. When his family traveled to Hawaii, he spent hours at the Pearl Harbor Memorial site and nearby museums.
Looking ahead to college, Alec considered following in his parents' footsteps with a career in therapy, but ultimately enrolled in a pre-pharmacy program at Southwestern State Oklahoma University in Weatherford, Okla.
"He was compassionate and helpful, but he's not the kind of person to go in there and sweet talk someone out of bed when they need to get out of bed," his mother, Stacy McGlory, told msnbc.
Alec was an honors student at Lawton Christian School in his hometown of Lawton, Okla. Earlier this year, he competed in the Interscholastic Meet at Cameron University and placed second in the U.S. government category. He loved discussing politics with his mother, which prepared him to be a passionate participant on his school's speech and debate team. Recently he toured Southwestern State and received his fall class schedule. He tweeted about his excitement for college and shopped for dorm room necessities.
He would have graduated high school on May 18, six days after celebrating his 18th birthday.
Alec was shot and killed by unknown assailants outside an apartment complex in Lawton on April 22.