Nationwide — Lamont Newell, an African American teen from Los Angeles, California, earned a full ride to Columbia University after years of housing instability. He was accepted to 65 colleges and will move to New York to study industrial engineering.
Newell is a senior at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School and graduated as valedictorian, holding a 4.4 GPA, standing out academically while balancing a difficult upbringing.
His childhood was marked by repeated homelessness. At times, his family slept in their car, moving often and facing unstable living conditions. He also grew up around gang violence and incarceration, which shaped much of his early environment.
“We’ve always been moving my whole entire life,” Lamont told ABC News. “I couldn’t give you an age where we were homeless because it was from a time span, but those were the main issues.”
Even with those challenges, school became his steady ground. He credited after-school programs and extracurricular activities for helping him stay focused and consistent throughout high school.
His decision to apply to many colleges came from his family’s history. His mother did not get the chance to attend the college she once hoped for, and he became the first male in his family to graduate high school.
“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.
That motivation helped push him toward a wide range of college applications, eventually leading to 65 acceptances and a full scholarship to Columbia University.
Now, he prepares to study industrial engineering in New York. He also says his long-term goal is to build an institution that helps Black students enter STEM careers and access opportunities in the field.