Booker T. Washington grad wins scholarship, ready to make a difference at Tuskegee University

Armani Sowell is the first in his family to go to college, and he’s ready to start making a difference.

His college of choice is Tuskegee University, where he wants to study computer science in the service of creating databases to help the environment, according to his scholarship-winning essay. 

Throughout high school, Sowell, 18, worked with volunteer organizations, kept his grades up and worked to help take care of his younger brother. 

“I have to time-manage very wisely,” Sowell said about getting everything done. 

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For his commitment to others alongside his high grades and ambition, Sowell was awarded the Lushers Lane Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship awards $1,000 dollars to a graduating senior from Montgomery Public Schools. 

Lushers Lane was a PE teacher at Montgomery Public Schools for 10 years and worked at the Department of Youth Service for 13 years, according to the scholarship's website. He died from COVID-19 in January 2021.

Sowell first became interested in the scholarship because he knew the scholarship’s namesake. His brother had been taught by Lane. 

His guidance counselor, Sheila Graves, said that Sowell was rare among her students for being willing to apply for every scholarship that came his way. She said that she especially encouraged him to apply for scholarships that require essays because many students will not apply for those. 

Beyond his extracurriculars and schoolwork, Sowell has also worked to help his family financially and helped take care of his younger brother. 

"He was very well-mannered, very kind, very respectful, very goal oriented but also quiet and reserved,” said Treasure Ritzus, one of his teachers. “He's very professional in the way he handles himself daily. My first impression was that he was a very quiet but a serious student and just a very, kind of, stand-up respectful young man.” 

She said that he was someone she would “ever even have to suspect of not doing the right thing.” He’s motivated to learn at school—not just get high grades. 

“Well, as I got to know Armani, just, my respect for him even grew,” said Ritzus. “A lot of the things that I noticed about him in the beginning: he was quiet but he was a serious student. I noticed when he turned in his work, something that made him such a great student was that he put the same amount of effort into a daily assignment as he did a major project or a test. Everything was high quality. Everything is on time.” 

Sowell, according to those that know him, puts effort and determination into everything that he does — even if the payoff for him is not immediate. 

Michael Thornton, a licensed counselor that runs the non-profit New Heights for Youth in which Sowell is involved, said Sowell has always impressed him with how mature he has always been. From day one, Thornton said that he had been comfortable putting Sowell in positions he might not other 14-year-olds.  

Thornton first met him when Sowell reached out to play sports with his organization. Thornton told Sowell that he did not have any space for him on the team, and Sowell asked if he could just practice with them—and maybe play in the future. 

“Not that if they didn't want to do that, they didn't have character, but you'd have to really be a person that's committed to wanting to reach whatever goal you have at that moment, to be willing to put that kind of work in for something when you're not going to have the fun part of it right away,” said Thornton. 

 He got involved in other ways but never ended up playing sports with him — now it’s a joke for Sowell to call Thornton his coach. 

"One of the things that really inspired him, despite all the challenges that he and his family had growing up with, he was fortunate to be exposed to some things where he saw some people who had some success far beyond what he had and had different things, different opportunities,” said Thornton. “And, it gave him a hunger and a passion for wanting to be able to do some of those things as well.” 

Sowell has also joined the group, “Gentlemen of Distinction,” as a 12th-grade representative. 

He said that his mom has helped him a lot. 

“She had a job and she would come home from work early and come pick me up just to get me to a tennis game and that's sacrificing for me and I want her to know that I'm really thankful for that,” he said. 

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Sowell is proud of the work that he’s put in to come this far, and he’s happy that people have noticed. 

“People are noticing, like, I'm putting in effort and different things,” said Sowell. “And, it's finally time to see the benefits of what I did.” 

Jemma Stephenson is the children and education reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at jstephenson@gannett.com or 334-261-1569.