LA student accepted to 65 colleges, selects Columbia University
By Anabel Munoz
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LOS ANGELES, California (KABC) — A South Los Angeles student is celebrating the incredible accomplishment of receiving 65 college acceptance letters.
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.
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.
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.
He now plans to study industrial engineering at Columbia University.
“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.
The valedictorian with a 4.4. GPA earned a full ride.
“One of my goals is actually to create an institution where I teach Black kids how to work in STEM,” Newell said.
South Park is also where he and his family found refuge while experiencing homelessness.
“There were times where we didn’t have a roof over our head, but we had a 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.
Newell watched his mother go to college and persevere through many challenges.
“It was a hard road. I was a single mom. I had Lamont at 21,” Barnes said.
“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.”
Newell was also fueled to set an example for his younger brother.
“I realized if I didn’t try hard enough, who would for him?” Newell said.
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.
“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.
Both offer encouragement for those listening.
“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.”
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