Chatsworth High's Grant Wang received an acceptance message from MIT during a volleyball tournament in Las Vegas. The moment was unexpected as he checked his phone while his coach had confiscated players' devices.
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During a volleyball tournament trip to Las Vegas in March, Chatsworth coach Sina Aghassy confiscated all his playersâ cellphones and put them in his backpack to make sure they focused on their sports assignment â with one exception.
Anyone waiting to learn if they were accepted to a college could briefly have access to their phone.
The players are standing in a hallway listening to their coach evaluate their performance when Grant Wang, the teamâs star 6-foot-6 senior, decides to open his phone to check whether he got a message from MIT.
âI opened it up a couple minutes before it was supposed to come out and all I see is confetti,â he said. âI was in shock and all I did was make a noise.â
Aghassy, not knowing what the noise meant, said, âCan you quiet down a bit?â
âFive minutes into his talk, I started breaking down crying. I got overwhelmed by emotions,â Wang said.
Volleyball standout Grant Wange of Chatsworth High has never received a grade other than A in high school. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Teammates didnât know if it was good news or bad news as they saw his tears.
âMy teammate whispers to me.â
Wang tells the good news, âI got into MIT.â
âEveryone breaks out cheering and going wild.
Wang had kept it a secret that MIT was his dream school. He was so disappointed in the fall when he was put on the deferred list that he didnât think heâd get in.
He becomes the fourth volleyball player from Southern California to be accepted to MIT, joining three others from Redondo Union who he knows.
Heâs never received a grade other than A in Chatsworthâs magnet program focused on STEM. Heâs such a math whiz that he took geometry in eighth grade and finished all his math classes, from chemistry to calculus, last school year. This year heâs focused on AP Physics.
He already owns three rings â one playing for Chatsworthâs state championship basketball team with Alijah Arenas and two City Open Division volleyball titles. Heâs going for a third ring this season as Chatsworth is expected to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for the volleyball playoffs. He gave up basketball for volleyball, a sport he didnât start playing until his freshman year.
Grant Wang was in shock and made a noise of surprise when he saw confetti on his phone, indicating his acceptance to MIT.
Coach Sina Aghassy confiscated the players' cellphones to ensure they focused on their sports assignment, allowing only those waiting for college acceptance to check their phones briefly.
Grant Wang is a 6-foot-6 senior at Chatsworth High School.
Grant Wang found out about his acceptance to MIT during a volleyball tournament trip to Las Vegas in March.
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âI love the sport. I always put in extra work,â he said.
Redondo Union High volleyball players (from left) Tommy Spalding, Vaughan Flaherty and Carter Mirabal are headed to MIT this fall. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Unlike the Redondo Union trio, he doesnât surf and plays no instruments even though his Redondo Union friends are looking for a drummer to start a band. Wang knows math formulas, but drumming? âI cannot,â he said.
âIn college, Iâm going to learn how to drum so I can join the band,â he joked.
His size and improving skills make him a good volleyball prospect for the future. He seems all set except for dealing with cold weather.
"I donât think Iâve ever been in weather under 60 degrees for two days,â he said. âMy parents said, âGood luck,â they would send me some hot Korean soup during tough days.â
Asked how he became such a good student, Wang said, âMy mom and dad always put me in academic settings trying to get me to learn as much as possible.â
Bâs on a report card are not allowed in his family.
He offered a rousing endorsement for his educators at Chatsworth.
âAll the teachers put their heart and soul into us,â he said.
As for his volleyball coach, he appreciated Aghassy giving access to his phone for just a few minutes and apologizes for disrupting his speech.
What a memory it will be for years to come telling the story of being in Las Vegas and learning he got into MIT.
It was his jackpot worth more than money.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.