High school senior speaks out after getting accepted to 65 colleges
A high school senior who lived through homelessness much of his childhood was accepted to 65 colleges, and plans to attend an Ivy League school in the fall.
Lamont Newell, a senior at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School, an all-boys high school in Los Angeles, committed to Columbia University this month, an achievement the university confirmed to ABC News.
"I've been more than ready," Lamont, a Verbum Dei valedictorian, told ABC News of his decision to attend Columbia. "I always wanted to leave California and explore parts of the world."
Despite his outsized accomplishments so far, the 17-year-old said he feels "calm" and "normal" about applying to so many schools and getting into one of the top universities in the country.
"The main reason [I wanted to apply to so many schools] was my mom didn't get to go to the college she wanted to go. She didn't really get to apply as many as she wanted to. So my plan was … to do the direct opposite,” Lamont said.
Lamont credits local after-school programs and extracurricular activities like playing basketball for helping him find stability in his high school career, one marked by homelessness as his family struggled to find a stable home.
“We've always been moving my whole entire life,” Lamont said. “I couldn't give you an age where we were homeless because it was from a time span, but those were the main issues.”
Lamont said another critical key to his success has also been the teachers at Verbum Dei.
“My biology teacher, she's actually one of the directors in the robotics [team]. She also nominated me, my sophomore year, to go to NASA in Houston, which actually sparked my engineering [interest],” said Lamont.
Verbum Dei President Fr. Travis Russell, S.J., told ABC News in a statement that the school community “could not be prouder” of the soon-to-be graduate.
“Great education is not a mystery. It is dedicated teachers, real relationships, corporate partners who believe in our students, high standards, and the formation of character. Lamont’s success is his own — but it also reflects the excellence and resilience of the entire Verbum Dei brotherhood," the president said in part.
Today, the high school senior who once wanted to be a YouTube creator, hopes to major in industrial engineering in college and study abroad in Egypt.
For others looking to find their success, he said, “I would tell people to be themselves and always believe in themselves.”
