LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Trials and tribulations have defined Kalah Neal's last four years. The lawyer in training and Central High School senior may have worked harder than anyone else to reach the end of the long hallway that is high school.

Her family moved a lot, and her dad was in the military.

"His favorite motto was, 'You may not be smart, but you will be strong,'" Neal said.

It turns out, she was both.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, her father contracted the virus and passed away. What happened next could've gone a lot of ways for a lot of students.

"It impacted her greatly, but she just decided nothing was going to stand in the way for her," said Joe Gutman, one of Neal's teachers.

She had a mom, siblings and big dreams that her dad always encouraged her to follow. 

"For me to shut down — during a time that they needed me the most — seems kind of selfish," Neal said.

She did the work in class and she did well. Neal was accepted into more than 30 colleges:

  • Harris-Stowe State University
  • Tennessee State University
  • Tuskegee University
  • Fisk University
  • Brescia College
  • Norfolk State University University
  • Jackson State University
  • Western Kentucky University
  • Lincoln University
  • West Virginia State University
  • University of Maryland Eastern Shore
  • Alabama State University
  • Kentucky State University
  • Winston-Salem State University
  • Grambling State University
  • Bellarmine University
  • Gardner-Webb University
  • Valparaiso University
  • Murray State University
  • Seton Hall University
  • Clemson University
  • American University
  • Morehead State University
  • University of New Mexico
  • Washington College
  • Spellman College
  • George Washington University
  • Elizabeth City State University
  • North Carolina A&T University
  • Louisiana State University
  • Vorhees College

"Some of our students get quite a few opportunities, but not 30," Gutman said.

Neal, 18, was offered more than $1 million in scholarships.

"There's a lot of full rides in there," she said.

Her verdict is in:

"I actually committed the last day of April to George Washington University," she said.

She hopes to get a law degree and one day be an International Affairs Liaison for the government, working at the United Nations.

No jury is needed to tell you she'll be successful. The woman and lawyer her late father knew she would be.

"I feel like he would be super proud," Neal said.

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