Gregory Tavarez, Class of 2008

The experience that Gregory Tavarez had at Stevens looked a little bit different than that of his classmates. Greg was the school’s first student involved with the organization NJ SEEDS, a program with the goal of changing the lives of motivated, high-achieving students from low-income families by transforming their educational opportunities. When asked about his time in the program, Greg proudly states that, “In tandem with Stevens, the organization successfully accomplished its goal.” Greg went on to attend the Hackley School, a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts college in Middletown, Connecticut, where he earned an Economics major with a Data Analysis minor.

Now an Implementation Specialist at HubSpot in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Greg credits Stevens for his extroverted personality and ability to speak with others confidently. As a child from a single-parent household, Greg noted that he had limited resources available to him. Stevens strives to build a community comprised of unique individuals from different backgrounds, identities and beliefs, and aims to provide access to a Stevens education to a wide and diverse socioeconomic range of families. “Stevens and NJ SEEDS complemented each other so well — both fully invested in my academic success and placement into a great high school,” shares Greg.

When speaking to the academic rigor he experienced at Stevens and as part of the NJ SEEDS program, Greg states, “Stevens provided me with a level of comfort when keeping up with the academic expectations of the SEEDS program. I was still being challenged, don’t get me wrong, but I was well-adjusted with the homework, papers and research we were being tasked to complete because of my time at Stevens.” Greg goes on to add, “Being the sole SEEDS student at Stevens, a lot of my other friends couldn’t relate to my experience — both on a socioeconomic level and having to be a double-time student on the weekends.”

Since Greg’s time at Stevens, the school has increased its partnership with NJ SEEDS. With the support of our families through the Annual Fund, the school has also been able to award an increased amount of financial aid to students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to benefit from and thrive with a Stevens education.

This article was originally published in the 2019 Spring issue of SCOOP Magazine.