SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A South Los Angeles student is celebrating the incredible accomplishment of receiving 65 college acceptance letters.<\/p>\n
The straight-A student from Verbum Dei Jesuit High School is picking an Ivy League school, but he had to do a lot to get to this point.<\/p>\n
At 17 years old, Lamont Newell smiles ear to ear as he holds a few of the 65 college acceptance letters he’s received so far.<\/p>\n
Where he’s holding them is also significant. He spoke to Eyewitness News at a recreation center in South L.A.’s South Park. He learned to code there as a kid in summer camp.<\/p>\n
He now plans to study industrial engineering at Columbia University.<\/p>\n
“I felt proud. I never thought I’d make it that far, to be able to go into Ivy League, especially New York City,” Newell told Eyewitness News.<\/p>\n
The valedictorian with a 4.4. GPA earned a full ride.<\/p>\n
“One of my goals is actually to create an institution where I teach Black kids how to work in STEM,” Newell said.<\/p>\n
South Park is also where he and his family found refuge while experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n
“There were times where we didn’t have a roof over our head, but we had car. We didn’t have a place to stay so we would come and sleep in this parking lot,” Newell’s mother Antanika Barnes said.<\/p>\n
Newell watched his mother go to college and persevere through many challenges.<\/p>\n
“It was a hard road. I was a single mom. I had Lamont at 21,” Barnes said.<\/p>\n
“As a parent, it is your duty to find out what your kids are good at, and I knew my son academically was a high achiever from a very young age,” Barnes said. “I probably couldn’t have done it myself, but it was my job to figure out who could help and where I could get those resources from.”<\/p>\n
Newell was also fueled to set an example for his younger brother.<\/p>\n
“I realized if I didn’t try hard enough, who would for him?” Newell said.<\/p>\n
Newell is the first male in his family to graduate high school. His mother says the family has been impacted by gang violence and incarceration, making the achievement layers deep.<\/p>\n
“This not only means something great to me but it’s very influential to my family as a whole because now the youth that comes after him are going to see that there’s another way out,” Barnes said.<\/p>\n
Both offer encouragement for those listening.<\/p>\n
“You may feel like during your situation there is no path out, but there is always an exit to your destination,” Newell said. “In a million years, we could have never thought we would be in this situation.”<\/p>\n
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