Steed Amegbor moved to Newark as a teenager knowing very little English. With the help of the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship, he successfully completed high school and went on to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Stevens Institute of Technology. Now he鈥檚 heading to Texas to become a mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil.
In 2010, Amegbor moved to Newark from Togo, West Africa. It was his junior year of high school and his knowledge of English was limited. He received the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship to attend St. Benedict鈥檚 Preparatory School in Newark, which he says was extremely helpful.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way I could鈥檝e possibly afforded the financial burden of St. Benedict鈥檚 without the scholarship,鈥� Amegbor said.
Getting an education through St. Benedict鈥檚 and attending the church helped Amegbor meet people who helped him through the transition and served as a moral guide.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 sound like much, but those things were really helpful. They made a big impact on me,鈥� he said. 鈥淐oming here, I didn鈥檛 know what to expect. They gave me all the tools I needed. I鈥檓 very grateful for that.鈥�
When Monsignor Linder hears success stories like Amegbor鈥檚 he feels proud. 鈥淚t proves what we can do in education if we put our mind to it,鈥� he said.
Amegbor wanted to make Monsignor Linder proud by achieving academic success.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure he felt that he wasn鈥檛 wasting his money,鈥� Amegbor said. 鈥淚t was important to me to give him that gratification.鈥�
Amegbor said 91看片 also helped his mother so he could focus on his education.
鈥淭he only thing I had to worry about was school. They gave me that foundation just to focus on school and not worry about anything else that was going on at the time,鈥� he said.
That solid foundation allowed Amegbor to graduate from St. Benedict鈥檚 in 2012. He then went to Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken where he completed a five-year program. He earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering May 24.
This month he鈥檚 moving to Texas where he will be a mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil in Beaumont. Amegbor applied for the position while at Stevens. He said the company comes to the college each year to recruit talent. The hiring process took about three months with a total of seven interviews. Amegbor traveled to Texas for the final phase.
The future looks bright for this young man who in seven years became fluent in English, earned a high school and college degree and secured a full-time mechanical engineering job at a major global company.
