Compton teen overcomes adversity, heads to Harvard

A high school senior from Compton has some lofty goals, and he’s on his way with acceptance and a scholarship to Harvard University. Sheree Lewis-DeVaughn always did her best for her son, Elijah, but making it work wasn’t easy. Sheree raised her son, who goes by E.J., alone. His father was incarcerated when E.J. was just 6 months old. And life in Compton was challenging, sometimes downright dangerous. “It was kind of late at night, my mom ran into my room, and they were shooting outside. So we would lay, actually, right there, kind of looking at each other. I was just…looking at my mom for strength,” described E.J. But that moment, he said, changed him. “I was like, ‘I got to do something,’ you know, I was moved to action,” he said. “At such a young age, I was like, ‘We can’t be here forever.’

“Now, E.J. is getting out of there. He got accepted to Harvard University, an Ivy League school. Read More…