Lamont Newell grew up without a stable home — sometimes sleeping in his family’s car. Now he’s headed to the Ivy League.
WASHINGTON — A California teen who spent much of his childhood experiencing homelessness is headed to New York City on a full ride to Columbia University this fall.
Lamont Newell, a high school senior at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Los Angeles, is a valedictorian at the all-boys school, with a 4.4 grade point average. Newell has been accepted to 65 colleges so far, but has decided to head to the other coast this fall.
The straight-A student plans to study industrial engineering at Columbia University.
“I felt proud, you know, I never thought I’ll make it that far to be able to go into Ivy League, especially in New York City,” he told KABC.
Newell’s family experienced repeated bouts of homelessness throughout his childhood, at times sleeping in their car. They also faced gang violence and incarceration. He told ABC News he credited after-school programs and extracurriculars with providing stability during his high school years.
“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.”
He said he was fueled to apply to so many schools in part because his mom was not able to go to the college she wanted to attend. He is the first male in his family to graduate high school.
“She didn’t really get to apply as many as she wanted to. So my plan was … to do the direct opposite,” Lamont told ABC News.
His goals extend beyond Columbia. Newell said he wants to build an institution that teaches Black students how to enter STEM careers.