The ETS-Trenton Central High School (TCHS) Scholarship Program recognizes and aids talented graduating seniors who have a desire to attend college. Recipients of this scholarship are those who can provide evidence of a high level of academic achievement, strong community engagement and demonstrated school leadership throughout their high school years. For Jevon Lin, the ETS-TCHS Scholarship made college possible and opened the door to a future rooted in service. A political science student at Messiah College, Jevon is motivated by personal experiences that shaped his commitment to public policy and community impact. In this Q&A, he discusses how the ETS-TCHS Scholarship made higher education possible and how it is guiding his efforts to create positive change.
How has receiving the ETS- TCHS Scholarship changed what’s possible for you as you begin building a career focused on public service and policy?
Lin: The ETS-TCHS Scholarship made higher education a reality for me rather than a constant worry of cost and risks. When I discovered that ETS had chosen to support me with their 2025 Scholarship, I thanked God over and over again because at that very moment, I received the courage I needed to take the first steps to pursue college without being as cost-burdened as I was for the majority of my time in high school, contemplating how I could pursue higher education without putting the burden on my loving but aging parents, the very types of people I dreamed of helping in a career focused on public service and policy.
Graduating with large sums of student loan debt also tasted bitter to me, as I questioned my own ability to do what I dreamed of; to give my life fully to being there for people in distress and need when I, myself, am drowning in debt and beholden to the terms of those to whom I’m indebted. All that changed when ETS opened a new path, the very first steppingstones to my college journey.
You have a deep commitment to social change based on your own personal experiences. How do you hope to turn those experiences into long-term impact on communities and the world at large?
Lin: I hope to turn my personal experiences into lasting impacts that will better communities and, one day, the world at large by doing more than I am already doing. The social change I am committed to is making people’s lives less suffocating.
I want people to actually experience life, not just survive day by day with never-ending worries. It is only right for me to use my personal experiences to keep working with others with similar goals and help more and more people, growing my experience in the process, so one day I’ll be able to be part of a change that will leave a lasting impact. I also believe that each person I help make happier will be motivated to do the same for another person. Then, slowly, our world would be more caring and less individualistic.
When you imagine your future in political science and politics, what specific issues or systems do you feel most compelled to improve—and why?
Lin: I feel most compelled to do something that would combat our world’s worsening food crisis. As a kid, I saw my family struggle with poverty, which created food scarcity at home where, oftentimes, my parents skipped meals so that my sister and I would have something to eat. However, with God’s grace, my parents found work in restaurants that let them bring leftovers home. This small addition of resources lessened the burden on my family by allowing my parents to feed their children without having to starve themselves, enabling them to do more and finally improving our family’s conditions.
As I grew old enough to work alongside my parents, I realized the same poverty that threatened to break my family is breaking the least fortunate families, families where there aren’t two parents, where there isn’t that small supply of leftover food, and above all, a poverty that is harder to escape. Any person put into situations like this or similar will feel helpless and go to unthinkable lengths, including violence, out of desperation to improve their conditions or the conditions of those they deeply care for.
If we solve the food issue, we may be unintentionally solving many more issues arising from the food crisis, because when necessities are met, people have choices and the chance to improve.
Many leaders talk about “making a difference,” but that can mean something different to everyone. What does meaningful impact look like to you in your everyday work, both now and in the future?
Lin: To me, meaningful impact means visible improvement in the lives of the people I dedicate myself to helping. As of now, the scale of my everyday work is small, but I make sure that every person I can help is happier after I have made an impact in their lives. At my college, I made sure that a blind student didn’t feel isolated or insecure because of his disability by being a resource whenever he needed someone to talk to or walk with, so he wouldn’t need his white cane. I know I made a meaningful impact on his life because I can see his excitement and the happiness we shared in our walks together.
In the future, I want to scale up my everyday work; however, I’ll lose the ability to connect well with each person I help, as it will become harder to spend quality time with everyone. Since I won’t be able to see the happiness as clearly as I would on a smaller scale, I want to see an overall improvement in the living conditions of the people I have impacted. If their living conditions improve, I’ll know I have made a meaningful impact worthy of happiness
As a current student at Messiah College, what experiences, programs, internships, or opportunities—are you most excited to pursue to prepare yourself for a career in politics?
Lin: I am most excited to explore the Politics and International Relations major offered at my school, especially to connect with my professors whose backgrounds are grounded in politics. By growing my relationship beyond the classroom with my professors, I hope to learn from them not just through lectures on politics, but also through their own experiences, mistakes, and advice that could help prepare me for a career in politics. I am also looking forward to applying for the student government body at my college to serve the interests and well-being of my fellow students.
Leadership and community engagement were key parts of the scholarship criteria. Can you share a moment when you realized you had the ability to influence others or create positive change?
Lin: One night, while I was helping my parents close the shop, a man came in at the last possible minute. His intoxication made taking his order challenging. As I watched him struggle to place an order, I realized I was only making it harder for both of us by treating him indifferently preventing me from going home.
I reapproached him with warmth in my attitude because he was struggling with the recent passing of his mother. He needed somebody to talk with, and by being patient and accepting him at that moment, he saw me as that “somebody” who would provide him the consolation he needed. I held his hands in mine as I prayed with him and gave him more food than I was allowed to, before reminding him once more to be resilient as he returned home to his waiting siblings.
Though the support I left him was small, I believe we both walked away having influenced each other positively. He returned home feeling less isolated as he shared the food with his siblings. At the same time, his honest admission deepened my understanding of the struggles faced by families beyond my own experience. I will remember his story as I push for positive changes in the future, changes that go beyond mere reassurance and small donations.
Fast-forward 10 years, what change do you hope people will say you helped bring about, and how does this scholarship serve as the starting point for that journey?
Lin: I want people to understand me, why it is so important to bring people together to form caring communities where people choose to be mindful and help those around them who are less fortunate. What we do today affects the future, and how we treat the other person influences how that person will treat the next person. But in today’s society, our lives are largely individualistic, meaning that in the future, our society will likely become more apathetic as everyone grows increasingly focused on maximizing their own success.
Over the next 10 years, I hope to disrupt this feedback loop by changing incentives and behavior through political action. However, this journey would have been harder to start without the support from ETS, which encouraged me to go beyond my comfort zone as I embraced the risks of college to study the ins and outs of politics. Therefore, my gratitude will always be expressed toward ETS for believing in me and providing me with the opportunity to pursue higher education.