Moises Urena

June Alumni Spotlight

LEAP Academy Class of 2013

I started my journey at LEAP Academy in 3rd grade where I met friends that I would go on to have for the rest of my life. Attending LEAP, I learned very early about what it meant to stick together, to persevere, and to strive for greatness. The culture around LEAP is one that is family oriented. Everyone there wanted me to be a great as possible. To be successful, and to learn as much as I could. No one there ever doubted me or made me feel as if my dreams were unattainable. I had the opportunity, through LEAP Academy, while in high school to take college level courses at Rutgers University with college students. Being given the chance to be submerged into that environment and given those college level expectations gave me an early outlook of what to expect after high school. LEAP prepared me to enter my college career with a mind of my own along with college credits from Rutgers University. Not only did they prepare me for college, but they helped make the process of applying and getting accepted to colleges/universities so much easier. Khary Golden, my counselor at the time, played a big role in overseeing that we were equipped with every tool we needed to smoothly transition into our next level of education.

After graduation from LEAP Academy I happily accepted my acceptance to Rutgers University in New Brunswick. I had help paying for school through the Alfredo Santiago Scholarship and Rutgers Future Scholars Scholarship which I acquired while being at LEAP in 7th grade. These two scholarships alone took a heavy financial burden off of my family which allowed me to focus more on my studies at Rutgers. While attending Rutgers I had the chance to join many club/organizations that helped mold me into a better student and person. Being a part of the social setting on campus as well as the academic part was something that I learned while at LEAP. They give every student a chance to grow in more ways than just academically. My biggest advice for students entering college is to branch out into as many clubs and organization they can while still maintaining their grades. During my last year of college I came back to my home town of Camden to finish my degree at Rutgers University in Camden and to also help my community. I became very involved in volunteering around the city as well as working with students from 7th grade to 12th grade through the Rutgers Future Scholars program. I graduated in May 2018 with my B.S. in Computer Science and landed a job at ASRC Federal as a Software Engineer. It has been a long journey from 3rd grade at LEAP Academy but I still go back and work with the students because it is still a place I consider a home.