Merck Employees Federal Credit Union proudly continued its long-standing tradition of supporting the educational goals of high school seniors by awarding $5,000 scholarships to six outstanding students. This year’s winners were chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants.
Applicants were evaluated based on their academic achievements, volunteer involvement, work experience, and extracurricular activities, along with a thoughtful essay. The 2025 essay focused on financial well-being and the importance of building financial resilience in today’s economy.
“In a world of constant change, the drive and optimism of today’s youth continues to inspire us,” said Paul Gentile, President/CEO of Merck Employees FCU. “Hearing their visions for the future at our Annual Meeting was a powerful reminder of why we invest in education year after year.”
The credit union extends its heartfelt congratulations to all applicants and wishes them continued success in the year ahead and beyond.
Claire Kantor
West Orange, NJ
Barnstable Academy
College Plans: Muhlenberg College
Major: Environmental Policy or Sustainability Studies
“I am very concerned about the impacts of climate change and have goals to work towards climate change mitigation. I want to continue learning about how climate change is affecting the planet and meet likeminded people.”
Christopher Kwiatkowski
Bridgewater, NJ
Immaculata High School
College Plans: Lehigh University
Major: Mechanical Engineering
“Since I was a child I have been fascinated by how things work and hope to continue building my skills in math, physics, and engineering in college and beyond. When I graduate I want to design and improve mechanical systems that can help advance technology, transportation, and energy efficiency.”
Matthew Sidun
South Plainfield, NJ
Union Catholic
College Plans: George Washington University
Major: International Relations
“After college, I would like to work for the US Department of State, and my ultimate objective is to become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). I believe that earning a degree in International Relations would help me to understand the world on a regional and global scale.”
Karl “KJ” Stockert
Cedar Knolls, NJ
Whippany Park High School
College Plans: Rutgers University - Newark
Major: Environmental Science
“I plan to attend Rutgers University-Newark, where I plan to enroll in the environmental science program. I also have applied to the honors college at Rutgers Newark. Lastly, after I plan to enroll in the 4+1 plan Rutgers has in my major, which would allow me to earn my master’s degree with only one extra year of schooling.”
Chloe Yu
Westfield, NJ
Academy for Allied Health Sciences
College Plans: Barnard College
Major: Biological Engineering
“First, intellectually, I hope to have mastered the knowledge and skills in the area of biological engineering. I hope to have the curiosity to want to do more and be ready for lifelong learning. I will have taken advantage of unique classes offered and the vast amount of research and internship opportunities with distinguished professors to put my knowledge to use. By the time I graduate, my goal is to have a strong academic foundation and acute problem solving skills to address the world’s most pressing issues.”
Eric Zhu
East Brunswick, NJ
East Brunswick High School
College Plans: Cornell University
Major: Computer Science/Statistics
“By studying computer science and statistics, I hope to explore how AI solutions can be applied to various problems in the life sciences and its related fields like healthcare in order to directly improve people’s lives, as well as work in AI research to develop new approaches to AI that will mitigate its current shortcomings. In particular, I hope to make AI more transparent so that it can be easier to fix and learned from.”
