My Nonprofit Reviews

Recipient of the Educational Assistance Scholarship!

Three years ago, I was performing at the Grand Central Shuttle “s" train station during the weekdays from 6am to 9am, practicing my audition repertoire for Manhattan School of Music (MSM). It had always been my dream to earn a degree from MSM because I believed MSM was the rite of passage to actualizing my dream of becoming a world renowned soloist, and this was in fact, my second audition to MSM. My first failed audition was during the sophomore year of my undergraduate degree at South Carolina State University.

With this prior failure in mind, I was very determined to pass my audition to earn an acceptance into MSM's Master of Music program. I also knew that I could not afford MSM's tuition, but I had put all my eggs in this one basket and envisioned myself passing the audition process, and telling myself I would cross that bridge when I got there. The audition day came, I audition and felt that I did my best and I left it all out there. Again, I did not know how I was going to pay the tuition and fees if I did get accepted into MSM. Coming from a family of Nine children (to the same parents), I knew that my parents weren't financially capable to pay for my school fees and at the same time, take care of my younger siblings. I didn't even want to burden my parents with the thoughts but something within me told me to speak to my parents about it and I did.

After speaking with my parents, they left me with three nuggets of wisdom. The first was; Good things happen to those who practice, those who are patient, persistent, and to those who pray. The second was; the universe responds to the thoughts we put out. Lastly, it takes a village to raise a child. Their words of wisdom were very reassuring and gave me a sense of confidence and belief in my preparation for the audition.

I'll never forget the morning I received the acceptance letter from MSM. It was just another Tuesday morning and I was in my routine of checking my emails before heading down to grand central to perform. I remember opening the email and scrolling down looking for the rejection and it wasn't until I scrolled back up to reread the email that I realized the big headline at the top that read, "CONGRATULATION! You've been accepted to Manhattan School of Music and awarded a $15,000 Scholarship from the Educational Assistance Program!" My prayers had been answered!

I said all that to say this, I believe that EALGreen's MAJOR role in financially assisting me to actualize my dream was directly linked to the nuggets of wisdom my parents gave me. EALGreen's assistance was one of the good things that happened to me based on my practice, patience, persistence and prayer. EALGreen was the universe responding to my thoughts and EALGreen is part of that village it takes to raise a child.

I am beyond grateful for EALGreen’s financial assistance and how it has tremendously impacted my life. Because of EALGreen, I was able to take a major step in actualizing my dream of becoming a world renowned soloist, I am now a proud alumnus of MSM, but most importantly, EALGreen, has helped put me in a position to help inspire our youth. I would also add that I felt very special that Ms. Freed took the time out of her day to come and visit MSM and also met with me! I've added a photo we took after our meeting.
Left to Right: Ms. Chamberliain - CEO of the Hultz Foudation, Me (Carrying Ms. Chamberlain's beautiful dog), Mr. Plaza - Director of facilities and Campus Safety, and Ms. Freed - CEO of EALGreen. Again, major thanks to Ms. Freed and EALGreen for playing a vital role in helping me actualize my dream.

Gratefully,

Eganam Segbefia
Manhattan School of Music
Classical Trumpet M.M. 18'