Hello, my name is Evan Phillips. I attend Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey. This fall I will be finishing up at Bergen and receiving my Associate's degree, giving me the opportunity to transfer to Montclair for the Spring of 2020. After college, I intend to take my degree as well as my hobbies and passions as far as they can go. Aside from computers, my other hobby is working on cars. I intend to seek a career which combines the two, and in this day of computerized cars I see no trouble in doing so.

My entire life, my mother has been bravely battling Multiple Sclerosis. In September of 2011 she sustained a work-related injury to her back. For several years after the injury she worked Monday through Friday, waking early in the morning and coming home late with an aching back. She felt that it was necessary to retire in October of 2017. Although she has a pension with the State of New Jersey, it is considerably less than her salary was and it has made life much more difficult in our household. What I imagine is even more difficult is now supporting two full-time college students, me and my sister, while still having to worry about other expenses such as credit card bills, car insurance for two young drivers, and constant repairs in our house which was built more than a century ago.

The Kids Chance of New Jersey scholarship has and will continue to enable me to broaden my horizons and push on towards my Associate's and subsequently my Bachelor's degree. Because of this scholarship, my mother has not had to worry about my tuition at community college for a year now. With my sister attending a private University, the scholarship has come as quite a blessing to our family.