Liberty Martin, a former winner of the Young Reporter Scheme, is the first student from Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College, to ever apply for an Ivy League University place.

She said: The application process was intense and required a lot of self-organisation. Nonetheless, I endeavoured to find out as much as I could about Columbia and the American college application system and taught myself for SATs to apply in a short time frame.”

The chances of being accepted were slim but her research paid off and she was offered a place to start in September 2017.

Having been diagnosed with cancer at the age of thirteen, she has gone on to achieve some amazing things since winning the award of top reporter through the Newsquest scheme in 2014.

Her article ‘GCSEs? No problem, I’ve beaten cancer’, impressed the judges by the way she handled a sensitive subject and wrote about it in such a positive way.

Having looked at all of her eight articles, the required number to enter the Young Reporter competition, the judges felt that she was the worthy overall winner in her age group.

Writing has always been her dream and in Year 12 she started to consider her options for university. She looked at British universities but the courses could not offer her the choice she wanted to study, so she decided to go further afield, looking at universities in America, and Columbia was one of her choices.

Being an international student and a cancer survivor means that her health insurance will be high and a strain on her family finances, so rising to the challenge, she has worked to save money to help cover the costs and has set up a  campaign #Croydon2Columbia, to help raise the £11,000 needed to cover her living expenses and health insurance for the first two years at Columbia.

Amanda Compton, Headteacher at Norbury Manor said: “Liberty is a truly inspirational student, she is hardworking and focused and it is a testament to her commitment that she secured places at both Oxford and Columbia.

“She aspires to be a journalist and has taken every opportunity to gain experience and publish articles and we were so proud of her Jack Petchey performance that was recently played again on radio four.

“Liberty has taken advantage of every opportunity presented to her and I know that she will make the most of her time in America. Any support that can be provided to help her with the costs will be invaluable to her and ensure that a very talented young person gets the opportunities that she has worked hard for and thoroughly deserves.”

Columbia offer a Core Curriculum course, made up of Literature Humanities, Contemporary Civilisation, Music, Art and Frontiers of Science, which students study for the first two years. It is a set of common courses required of all undergraduates and considered the necessary general education for students, irrespective of their choice in major.

Liberty admits that part of the reason she applied for university in America is to develop herself personally and academically.

She said: “I want to challenge myself, and throwing myself in the deep end of a city like New York will definitely do that, as well as introduce me to an amazing myriad of people.

“As someone who wants to work in media, networking and doing internships in New York will be invaluable for me, and Columbia even often leaves Fridays free of classes to encourage their students to do work experience in one of the most exciting and connected cities in the world.”

Her plans for the future are to work in the media as a journalist and writer. Since winning the Young Reporter scheme she has pursued every opportunity available in this field by doing work experience for local and national publications.

During her time at Columbia she hopes to continue writing for local news organisations to establish a career outside of university.

She added: “I am determined to make the most of this very rare and unique opportunity. I've always wanted to travel so I love the idea of living in New York. Of course, it will be very challenging because this is the first time that I'd lived away from home and it is so far, but at the same time, it will be a great opportunity for me to grow and mature as an individual.”

To read Liberty’s biography and support her campaign go to: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/croydon2columbia