Camden Teen Beats Odds To Attend UPenn On Scholarship
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Their scrapbook is brimming with memories, but it only tells a fraction of the challenging journey Christon Young and his mother have taken together.
"Just overwhelming, to be honest with you. Single mother, it's been hard. It's been hard, hard, doing this all by myself," Chineek Young said.
Chineek Young raised her son in Camden, once notorious for its rough neighborhoods, and where according to state statistics, less than 44% of public school students went on to college last year.
Chineek was determined Christon would not only get to college but excel along the way.
"They put everything into me to make sure that I won't be a product of my environment," Christon Young said.
Monday will be his mom's proudest moment yet.
Not only will Christon be graduating from the LEAP Academy University School, a public charter school in Camden, with straight A's, he will also be finishing with a full year of college credits that he completed on the campus of Rutgers.
"I made sure that in everything I do, I put my best foot forward, 110%," Christon Young said.
After spending almost 15 years at LEAP, it turns out Christon won't be traveling very far to continue his education.
"I am delighted to inform you of your admission to Penn's 267th class," Christon Young said as he read his letter of admission.
This fall, he'll be attending the University of Pennsylvania on a full scholarship.
"You're breaking a cycle out of poverty, every time a child graduates," LEAP Academy University Charter School Founder Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago said.
Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago is the founder of LEAP, where all of its graduates have gone on to college.
"It works because it's a pipeline from infancy, preschool, all the way to college," Bonilla-Santiago said.
As he starts to say farewell to the faces he's met along the way, Christon has his sights set beyond Penn, planning to become an anesthesiologist.
"I just want to make sure that when I grow older I can be able to support all my family so they don't have to struggle anymore," Christon Young said.
And if his path so far is any indication, he's already well on his way.
Christon says after he becomes a doctor, he hopes to give back to Camden by opening a shelter for the homeless in the city.
