Testimonials

“A college education is not the norm in my neighborhood. A lot of my friends enrolled in college but many dropped out. Others have been in and out of jail, or have found themselves in dead-end jobs. SEEDS started me off on an educational journey worth $413,924 – and all at no cost to my family. The single best thing SEEDS taught me is that one person determining that you have potential will drastically change the trajectory of your life. It only takes one.”

D’Shai Hendricks
SEEDS '06, Lawrenceville School '10, Stanford University '14

“Without New Jersey SEEDS, I would not have gone to a private high school, and I don’t think I would have thought of applying to, let alone get into, Stanford. I am truly appreciative of the guiding force SEEDS has been for my family. Thank you, SEEDS – for the family, the love, the laughs, and most of all, the opportunity. SEEDS has propelled me – and my family – to bigger and greater things. For that, I am forever grateful.”

Devika Patel
SEEDS '08, Montclair Kimberley Academy '12, Stanford University '16, MS Stanford University '17

“Unfortunately, it isn’t every day that a Newark housekeeper’s daughter will graduate from one of the top colleges in the country. SEEDS gave me so much more than an acceptance letter. They helped me gain knowledge, confidence and exposure to different cultures. I was delighted to be accepted as a SEEDS Scholar, thrilled to become a SEEDS alumna and am now proud to be a SEEDS donor.”

Odette Rodrigues
SEEDS '01, Newark Academy '05, Harvard University '09

“I knew that SEEDS would not only help me get accepted into an independent school, but it would also help mold me into a gifted student with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in such a school. I desperately wanted to be involved in the stimulating and highly academic discussions that occurred daily at an independent school. I wanted to benefit from an environment where motivated students pushed each other to be better. SEEDS was the beginning of my long and exciting journey towards a brighter future. It was the first place where I was allowed to dream as big as my imagination would allow and encouraged to go out into the world and do everything I can to make those dreams a reality. NJ SEEDS definitely changed my life.”

Claudia Torres
SEEDS '11, Kent Place School '15, Yale University '19

“New Jersey SEEDS offered something that I knew would benefit me. Before SEEDS, I didn’t know much about college or all that went into the college admissions process. I’ve learned a lot about that. SEEDS has been extremely helpful in equipping me with knowledge and skills, ensuring that as a first-generation college student, I will be successful.”

Justen George
SEEDS '19, Union College '23

“SEEDS impacted my life in ways I cannot even begin to describe. It helped guide a young girl with academic potential, who could easily have gotten lost in her local school, toward her dreams. It took a girl with limited resources and gave her the tools she needed to accomplish whatever she wants in this life. SEEDS helped provide me with the confidence, the courage, the determination and the perseverance to know that I could tackle any obstacle that comes my way.”

Daisy Munoz
SEEDS '94, Montclair Kimberley Academy '98, Columbia University '02, M.D. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey '09

“Thank you, SEEDS, for helping the daughter of a taxi driver and a factory worker, the granddaughter of migrant workers and peasant farmers, become an Ivy League-educated attorney.”

Esther Clovis
SEEDS '04, Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child '08, Princeton University '12, JD University of Pennsylvania School of Law '17

“In thinking about people and programs that were pivotal to my own career path, I kept coming back to SEEDS as the most influential. It put me on a very different track than I was previously on, and it enabled me to ultimately have a greater impact on the world than I otherwise might have had. I believe SEEDS alumni, both present and future, will continue to have a lasting influence on the world we live in.”

Soleio Cuervo
SEEDS '95, St. Andrew's School '99, Duke University '03

“SEEDS taught me to lead by example. They taught me to never feel ashamed of my economic status. They showed me that I could be just as successful as someone born with the advantages that I was born without. That first step into NJ SEEDS began my journey of a thousand miles.”

Student Profile - Danny Chang
Danny Chang
SEEDS '08 , Dwight-Englewood School '12, Johns Hopkins University '16, MS Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health '17, MD University of Maryland School of Medicine '22

“My parents could not afford to buy me ACT prep books or pay for a pre-college program. However, through the generosity of SEEDS, the impossible has been made possible for me. Hard work truly does pay off; it brought me to NJ SEEDS and led me to where I am today.”

Joselyn Jaramillo
SEEDS '17, Bates College '21

“New Jersey SEEDS is honestly the one reason I am where I am. I received a full scholarship to Stanford University and I had a full scholarship to Delbarton. I think a lot about the fact that I received one of the best educations a kid could ask for without having to pay a dime and that’s all due to New Jersey SEEDS. They invested money in me, my schools have invested money in me, and that’s an opportunity that I can’t take for granted. I’m very grateful to have SEEDS in my life, because it really put me in a place to do great things.”

Student Profile - Wade Morgan
Wade Morgan
SEEDS '05, Delbarton School '11, Stanford University '15

“New Jersey SEEDS is a home that cultivates education and supports individuality while still feeling like a close-knit family. People have asked me if New Jersey SEEDS changed me as a person. The answer is always yes. Without the Scholars Program, I would never have had the opportunities I needed to succeed. I would never have learned so much about myself and others.”

Student Profile - Nada Zohayr
Nada Zohayr
SEEDS '13, Philips Exeter Academy '17, Columbia University '21

“I felt academically pushed by SEEDS – as I was surrounded by a TON of other smart kids. We were encouraged to think and see beyond what was right in front of us and embrace a whole new world of opportunities most of us did not know existed outside of our neighborhoods. NJ SEEDS made sure we felt like we belonged – ANYWHERE. No place or goal was off limits.”

Sheridan Tennant
SEEDS '99, Rutgers Preparatory School '03, Bucknell University '07, MA Boston College '09

“New Jersey SEEDS provided me with options for my education. The Scholars Program broadened the possibilities for my four years in high school and, ultimately, enabled me to envision how those years would set me up for higher education. When I went to Newark Academy, a lot of people told me to prepare for the possibility that I wouldn’t keep up at first, which would have been a departure from my middle school days. I think it was helpful advice given that most of my high school peers had had an accelerated educational experience up to that point, but it turned out that I could keep up. And ultimately, I excelled.”

Andaiye Taylor
Scholars '97, Newark Academy '01, University of Pennsylvania '05, MS Columbia University '12

“What SEEDS did for me and for so many of my fellow alumni is that it changed the realm of the possible. SEEDS leveled the playing field. Thank you SEEDS, for giving me access to opportunities.”

Maite Amorebieta
SEEDS '96, Kent Place School '00, University of Pennsylvania '04, MS New York University '11

“I would not be the person I am today without the experience I had in SEEDS. My vision for how to make the world a better place is inextricably linked to the structure of SEEDS. A quality education expands horizons and opens doors. The opportunity to study with other bright students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds and to supplement the education I was receiving at my junior high school was a blessing that my family and I could not refuse. I saw the Scholars Program as an opportunity to surround myself with other people who also approached school as an opportunity to hone skills that would put them in a position to provide for their families. SEEDS tells its students that there are no limits to what they can accomplish, so long as they maintain perspective and dare to be ambitious.”

William Stone
SEEDS '04, Lawrenceville School '08, Yale University '12, M.S.Ed. University of Pennsylvania '14, JD Yale University '17

“As a child, I always felt like an outsider. I was a curious kid, but I was never curious about the same things that preoccupied the time of my peers. I liked learning, and when I found out that there was a program that was going to take me to that next level (in so many different ways), I had to try my luck. SEEDS means starting anew. A very apropos name, it serves as a way to breathe life into a community of children who are yearning for growth and an opportunity to pursue more for themselves. I never could’ve imagined that my SEEDS experience would have pioneered that young, shy version of me down this path.”

Maasha Kah
SEEDS '03, Oldfields School '07, Barnard College '11, MS University of Pennsylvania '13

“I wanted to participate in SEEDS because the college process seemed insurmountable to me. When I took that first step with SEEDS, I knew that it became that much easier to attend college and pursue my dreams.”

Faith Northern
SEEDS '18, Vassar College '22

“Before SEEDS, I felt locked into things. I saw a future in science for myself, simply because I was good at it. To think I could be a business major, or an English major, was never a plausible idea for me. SEEDS believed in me and my classmates, and saw in us a uniqueness they could not find elsewhere. This has helped me to realize, as cliche as it sounds, that I can do anything I set my mind to. I no longer tell myself that I cannot do something. Instead, when faced with a challenge, I ask myself, ‘why not me?’ “

Lexi Tumblety
SEEDS '17, Villanova University '21

“This journey wasn’t easy. Until SEEDS, a lot of us were perfect in school. It was eye opening to receive constructive criticism and be told that we have to really work hard in order to be outstanding. This organization altered the trajectory of all our lives. It gave us access to the most competitive schools in the country.”

Jarrid Tingle
SEEDS '05, Peddie School '09, University of Pennsylvania '13, MBA Harvard University '19

“Thanks to SEEDS, I was lucky enough to secure a computational chemistry research position at NJIT two summers, where I looked at the thermodynamics of fluorinated acids.”

Christy Zheng
SEEDS '15, Milton Academy '19, Yale University '23

“For me, SEEDS means opportunity. SEEDS is the helping hand that allows children, despite economic disadvantages, to attend some of the greatest academic institutions that this country has to offer. An education goes a long way, and so does this organization. SEEDS’ programs plant seeds of opportunity that grow and put scholars on the track to a brighter future. I’m both proud and honored that I can say ‘I am a SEEDS scholar,’ and even more thankful that I can refer to myself as an alum.”

Student Profile - Nanayaw Appiah-Kubi
Nanayaw Appiah-Kubi
SEEDS '11, Delbarton School '15, Boston College '19

“Sometimes you’re not born with really rich parents, and sometimes your own parents didn’t go to college. And to think that you are at the same spot with someone who had all those privileges. That is so empowering. That is so great.”

Grace Lopez
SEEDS '13, Friends Seminary '17, Wesleyan University '21

“My parents worked extraordinarily hard to be sure my siblings and I had better opportunities than themselves, and SEEDS catalyzed the principles of education and hard work my parents had instilled in me. I was lucky to receive educational opportunities not available to my parents. As a SEEDS student, I was given a world-class education fit for the children of scholars, ambassadors and foreign royalty. I was fed love, care and consideration on which to build my pursuit of and commitment to learning, my personal integrity, respect and courage to lead. Best of all, I now have the ability to serve as an example of what can grow from a SEED with proper care. I am proud of the woman I have grown to be, and will always pay homage to those who planted the SEED.”

Student Profile - Daniela Frias
Daniela Frias
SEEDS '00, Northfield Mount Hermon School '04, Rutgers University - Newark '10, MA Rutgers University '12

“I owe a lot of my intellectual and professional success to being a SEEDS scholar. SEEDS gave me opportunities that I would never have been afforded otherwise. The organization is truly unique and I was blessed enough to be a part of it at a time when I didn’t even realize the value it would have in my future.”

Aamira Garba
SEEDS '99, Kent Place School '03, Temple University '07

“I applied to SEEDS because at my home school, I wouldn’t have had a chance to widen my educational field. SEEDS was a way to unlock my full potential as a student. It was a path to success and opportunities.”

Dakauri Pinckney
SEEDS '18, Gill St. Bernard's School '24

“New Jersey SEEDS means a great deal to me because it enlightened me by showing the importance and empowerment of education. I became the first person in my family to graduate from college.”

Greg Kornegay
Scholars '96, Seton Hall Preparatory School '00, Rutgers University '04

“SEEDS is an opportunity to have access to education and a means to succeed. Because of SEEDS, I have the privilege of earning things in my life like an Ivy League education.”

Dhwani Bharvad
SEEDS '14, Kent School '18, Harvard University '22

“You’re going to finish high school. Get a scholarship. Community college for two years and attend a four year college, probably in state, most likely. Then New Jersey SEEDS came. My God. The opportunities opened. There were so many paths now that I could take. You know that what you’re working for is for your future. To have a better future. To come out of this cycle that you were born in. You are better than what society believes that you are.”

Chelsea Espinosa
SEEDS '12, Cheshire Academy '16, Princeton University '20

“More challenges. A better education. New horizons. Opening my eyes to things that I just didn’t know about yet. Being able to go to a private high school or a private boarding school and get out of the environment that I was in and better myself was just so exciting.”

Taylor O’Hare
SEEDS '05, Peddie School '09, University of Pennsylvania '13

“Before NJ SEEDS, I didn’t know there was a world beyond public school. And now, I have the ability to thrive in a more challenging environment.”

Angel Morataya
SEEDS '16, Delbarton School '20