Impact & Success Stories

The first two scholarships were recently awarded

These scholarships were provided to Jerimiah Wilson and Chimeziri Okeoma. Okeoma was selected as an essay winner and is a recent graduate from Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, NJ.

He has excelled in basketball and in the 2023 State Championship. He has been accepted to a university on a full athletic scholarship. The scholarships provided to these bright youths will both assist in reducing financial barriers to college entry and create motivation and incentivization to continue to work hard toward their career goals and dreams.

Chimeziri Okeoma (CHIM)

The prompt presented to me was to write an essay about my educational career and community services. From a young age I have always found peace with just me and my basketball. From dribbling up and down a court to long hours in practice all for me and my team to take the victory at games.

Jeremiah Wilson

I’m in Seton Hall and I am majoring in Computer Engineering. I want to major in computer Engineering because when I was younger, I was always into electronics and I would always spend hours staring at and trying to figure out how electronics work.

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Boosting college attendance among youths in the community that may otherwise lack the financial resources.

You can also email: info@flourishandthrive.org

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The Dr. Lorraine Stephenson Scholarship aims to focus on the community engagement of the student as well as their future career goals and aspirations.

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Chimeziri Okeoma (CHIM)

The prompt presented to me was to write an essay about my educational career and community services. From a young age I have always found peace with just me and my basketball. From dribbling up and down a court to long hours in practice all for me and my team to take the victory at games. As time passed my love for the sport has only grown deeper and deeper.

Words can’t fathom how I feel when it’s just me, an empty court, and my basketball. The world goes quiet as I grasp the basketball, and hear what to some a repetitive bounce but to me a graceful resound of a harp .When one finds a feeling as such the best thing to do is to hold tight and guard it by any means necessary. Everyone knows that when you find your talent, the only way to grow in it is to nurture it, the gift. In nurturing my gift I have spent countless hours in the gym and on courts to perfect my skill.

With basketball, even the small things that others may consider exasperating, I’m able to find joy in it. While many, including me, may be so tired and worn out after a long practice, I’m able to remember the space that I am in and I’m brought instant joy. A smile spreads across my face, from ear to ear as I run the number of laps instructed. As years passed, and I got older, I’ve decided not to keep my scale with a small confined gym but to join teams and showcase my talent. I

n just one year of high school I helped lead my team to a championship in which they last received the title in 1987. First game, scoring 35 points, the crowd went wild. My family on one side screaming to the top of their lungs and my friends on the other side. Taking up the whole student section jumping and screaming as I score. My heart bumps out of my chest as I feel the crowd’s excitement.

As games passed as games passed, and recognition grew, a platform was presented to me. As my name Chim (Chimeziri) became known not just around Plainfield but beyond, I’ve used my skills and name to benefit others. For example, in my free time over the summer I mentor younger kids in a basketball camp and teach them the ropes of things. From playing them one on one to develop their skills to helping them practice their handles.

After genuinely enjoying time with the kids and recognizing my love for the sport I have gone on to play college basketball at the nation’s first HBCU while also majoring in business. Why business one might ask. I feel as though I am an entrepreneur at heart and business comes naturally to me. As far as goals and aspirations I plan on going on to play professional ball and gain partnerships with various organizations as I pursue many business ventures.

I appreciate the opportunity presented to me to be able to express my goals. Thank you.

Jeremiah Wilson

I’m in Seton Hall and I am majoring in Computer Engineering. I want to major in computer

Engineering because when I was younger, I was always into electronics and I would always spend hours staring at and trying to figure out how electronics work. I was always fascinated just by looking at electronics, whether it was a game system, a computer, a calculator, a fridge, or even a phone. Some questions I wondered to myself would be, how does a phone connect to other people around the globe, or what is the internet.

I was interested in knowing how the internet and how devices worked. I wanted to go into the field of computer engineering over the other fields because i tried other fields of computer engineering and from experience I could say that computer engineering was more interesting to me then cyber security or web design or coding.

I had disliked coding and cyber security because you needed to learn many different coding languages and it was too much for me to handle at the time. I didn’t mind web design but I had realized that I did not need to major in web design because I already learned a majority of web designing from school and other out of school programs I had done in the past. Computer engineering was so interesting to me because I wanted to know how to work a device and all of its functions.

With computer engineering, you would not only learn how a device would work, but it would also teach you how to build devices from scratch and to fix them for whenever it would malfunction or if there was another issue with the device. With me majoring in computer engineering I could be able to help people who are not familiar with devices such as computers, phones, or other new devices. I could help people out and even support my own family with it. Computer engineering has many situations which require thinking, problem solving, and even teamwork depending on the situation. I wanted to take the challenge because I like to figure out things and I also like to be able to solve problems for other people who are having a difficult time.

If i could be there to help the person in need, not only will it put a smile on their face, it will put a smile on my face or even another person’s face knowing that a family needed a device to be fixed. With me majoring in computer engineering I will be able to contribute to my household, my church, and to society in general. In the upcoming future, we will always need people who know how to build and fix electronic devices. Knowing this, I want to be able to be of use to today’s society.

With computer engineering I could be able to make use of this skill to god by working on devices in the church that malfunction or help the church build and set up a device for praise and worship. That’s why I want to be a computer engineer, so I can help people.