Past Scholarship Recipients
2014 Scholarship Recipients
Rochelle Clark
Watching the new recruits get ready for tryouts reminded me of how far I have come. I was once the shy freshman that only wanted to show everyone what I could do. Being the only freshman on the varsity basketball team was one of my most nerve wrecking experiences. One thing that I will never forget was how united the team was on and off the court thanks to the leadership of the senior captain. Her optimism and spirit was what inspired me the most. I revered the captain and how she carried the team through championships and defeats. She reminded us that we can always get better.
Later on in my freshman year of high school, I volunteered at my middle school and acted as an assistant coach for the girls’ basketball team. I think of those girls as my little sisters. Twice a week I would go to practice and help the girls go through drills and plays. I used those words of encouragement that my captain told us, and conveyed them to my middle school team. Like any other sport, basketball requires a lot of discipline and perseverance. You can never accomplish a goal overnight, and I expressed to my girls that they can use the same energy that they put on the court towards their studies.
My responsibilities on the team amplified sophomore year when I became captain. Instead of being the only freshman looking up to seniors for advice and guidance, I assumed the leadership role. I proudly took on this position by motivating my team mates on the court and in the classroom. One of the values that I continue to instill on the team and outside of basketball is self-appreciation. In order for the team to work and execute to its best ability, every team member has to be confident and know that they are unique and instrumental to the team and all of its undertakings.
Through intellectual humility, I know that there will be room for growth but it is always important to know your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. I value this leadership trait especially because it is essential for me to continue this quality throughout my college experience and future career endeavors. My persistence as a student and gregarious nature as a volunteer has led me to the decision that I want to pursue a career where I am helping people by putting my math and/or science skills to use. My appetite to learn has encouraged me to look to continue my experiences in my academic life which will lead to a profession in medicine. I realize that books in the field of medicine are costly, therefore this scholarship will be used towards acquiring those materials. Having the honor of being awarded with the H.E.S.U.S. Scholarship will enhance my college experience, and also encourage me through whichever path in medicine that I choose to take.
Jovon Ferguson
My entire life I have watched family, friends, and people in my community experience change. At times, it was positive change in the form of growth and development. Other times, the directions of the lives and habits of those people took negative turns, almost always consuming their promise. Growing up, I learned from my relationships, especially with my father, about what it means to grow, change and progress in this world. His strong work ethic, ambition, and upward mobility from poverty in Grenada have always served as a testament to the ability and potential we all have as human beings.
Positivity, growth and development have always been things my father talked to me about, but most importantly, he taught me that helping others is a fundamental part of growing. Over the years, I have grown a love for helping others and getting a chance to play a part in fostering positive development and change.
Working with Brooklyn Boatworks, a program I had been in myself during middle school, I helped teach young students how to build sailboats. They sailed the boats on the Hudson River after they finished constructing them near the end of the school year. The growth that was true for me and many of the students in the program was that it gave a space to work where students could focus, create and collaborate. I was building this boat with students who were classmates and friends, so while we were all having fun and enjoying our time together, we were learning to communicate with each other and develop ideas and use those ideas to move forward and come to an end product. Another reason I came back to work with the program is that it creates a sense of possibility. We were helping the kids understand that something that wasn’t necessarily easy or small was do-able. Seeing the final project, the boat that we all created, launched in the Hudson River, means a lot. When the kids see that this is something they can do, they have the confidence to do a lot more like it, or even better. That type of thinking leads to progress, and it made me proud to be there and be a part of that growth.
Very soon I will head to Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. My goals for college, primarily, are to challenge myself academically and reach new heights in my education and social life, but more importantly, to continue making ways to reach out to communities all over. I plan on creating a coalition between the humanitarian and non- governmental organization groups on campus so that we can, as a united power, offer service and stand for people that need help. My ability to register for classes and pay for books and transportation is never a sure thing and is always at risk, but the HESUS Scholarship Fund will help to assure my college education.
2013 Recipients
Ingrid Yovo
I always felt that my purpose was to take full advantage of my life because I do not have the privilege of having financial stability. Since my mother was a single parent struggling from
paycheck to paycheck, my only hope for a steady income for my future was through education. Living in a poor neighborhood filled with violence and a demeanor of lost hope motivated me each day to use education as an instrument for a better future. However, I knew I wanted to dosomething principally for my community being completely derived from my own creation. Before I got ahead of myself, I started small.
After brainstorming for weeks, I finally reached a decision to create a program called Fit
for a Cure, which uses the sport I sacrificed my blood, sweat, and tears for, to give underserved
children a chance to feel the same love for Track & Field as I do. However, I had to find a school
that had an afterschool program in order to be able to recruit children that were already available.
Then I had to create a proposal to persuade the principal to support my program. In addition to
completing many tasks, I found a sufficient afterschool program with students ready to run. It
might have taken an entire summer, an endless amount of phone calls, relentless trips to different
schools, and perpetual determination, but I had completed my aim. Twice a week after school, at
an elementary school, I train students to be active throughout track workouts and teach them how
to live a healthy lifestyle. My program gives them the capability to extend themselves to the next
level and subsequently influences them to find a positive hobby that they can pursue in the
future. I can't guarantee that they will become fully affiliated with the sport, but I am certain that
I have taught them something influential enough to keep them from being a part of the negativity
in the community.
This September when I attend Lafayette College, I plan to become not only a leader in
my community, but also a huge supporter. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be successful
and able to provide an essential contribution to my community. Most importantly, I look forward
to being able to collaborate with existing leaders on campus, for there is still a lot for me to learn.
If chosen, the HESUS Fund will allow me to purchase a much-needed laptop, which is the key to
efficient note-taking in class and extremely helpful in making group study sessions productive.
This scholarship will be a great reinforcement of my dedication and it will further inspire me to
help my community flourish. In addition to the laptop, the $1000 will help pay for basic bills
required to survive at college, and enable me to stay focused on my Engineering degree.
Brandon Smith
I am not immune to struggle. From an early age, I dealt with divorced parents, being sexually abused, being bullied, seeing people killed and receiving a poor education. Despite all these difficulties, I have seen many blessings. The biggest one was attending North Star Academy, a blue ribbon school in Newark which has granted me a stellar education from teachers who cared about me. Because of North Star, I was able to achieve high SAT scores, travel nationally and overseas to Madrid, and build lasting relationships with teachers who wanted to see me succeed in life.
I was also able to serve my school’s community by helping to found the school's Debate Team which competes against suburban schools. As a black male debater, I have the responsibility of not only representing my family and school, but also the African-American community. I also served my school’s community as Senior Leader of the student body this past year. As Senior Leader, I planned many community-engaged projects, like pep rallies and our yearly service day, in which we go out into our local community to help where it is most-needed. North Star has embedded in me the passion to pursue higher education and the commitment to give back to my community. In doing so, North Star prepared me both academically and as a leader for the next phase of my life at one of the top liberal arts schools in the nation: Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
And while I am counting down the days to start school this fall, my financial aid status is still pending. My mother and stepdad have not supported my lifelong dream of going away to school and did not sign the necessary paperwork. Fortunately, the college said it “should be” approved by September and I have a host of support from my father, my school, mentors, and friends who all want me to succeed. If awarded the HESUS scholarship, the funds would help me pay for transportation to school, books, health insurance, and other expenses. I would be honored to be chosen by the HESUS Fund because it would allow me the opportunity to extend my family and to have added encouragement and support that I need. While I do have four years of hard work ahead at Franklin and Marshall, I eagerly await graduating because I know that whatever career I choose, I will use my skills and energy to make sure that there are more schools like North Star to help kids get a top notch education. Education is freedom. If we educate kids early on, we give them the ability to freely fly like birds and shine brightly like stars.
Hubert Lavie
On September 9th 2009, I was given a new start. I had always gone to school in my neighborhood, surrounded by friends trying to become gangsters, but deep down I always knew that I was different. So switching to a new school, on the other side of the Bronx where I didn’t know single person, gave me a chance to show everyone my true self. I had become tired of hearing discouraging stories of failure from people around me. I promised myself that I would not be one of those people; I needed to push myself so others could see what true hard work and dedication gets. I decided to be a role model, but mostly I wanted to encourage others to do the same and be true to themselves
In my new environment, I not only excelled academically, but athletically and socially, as well. As Class President I encourage peer-to-peer aid because of the shortage in teachers. During lunch, afterschool and even at midnight through Skype, I tutored my peers struggling in math until they were able to pass the required regents to graduate. While content with my own success, I received a more fulfilling joy in helping someone else be successful.
I became a Lead Mentor at Youth-Assisting-Youth and helped a group of 18 freshman embrace the responsibilities of transitioning into high school.. I let my mistakes be known so they didn’t have to be relived to be learned from. My mistakes were my teaching points; they helped me relate to and advise my freshmen mentees. I knew that giving back in school wasn’t enough. Through Chess-in-the-Schools, a non-profit college bound program, I created lesson plans and taught a weekly chess class to 20 homeless children in a shelter in Chinatown. I also used that opportunity as an outlet to encourage the children in the shelter to go to college and help eliminate their family’s cycle of poverty. I explained to them that, like me, they could make themselves someone who their younger peers looked up to. I also tried to convince them that the low-income situations we come from don’t have to weaken us, they can make us stronger.
Throughout the course of my life, lack of money has always been a dream killer. All the wonderful experiences I have had were thanks to scholarships or help from other people. I know that if I am selected for the Hesus Fund scholarship, I will be better able to focus on my studies as I pursue my Bachelors Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Specifically, the funds would help me to pay the balance of my tuition, ensuring that I can stay in college and take some of the burden off of my mother, who works overtime five times a week to help me pay for school. When I achieve my goal, I will be able to go back to my neighborhood, and show everyone that, regardless of where we come from, anything is possible. Ultimately, I will feel accomplished when my success has motivated more people to push themselves.