Raised by selfless grandparents in Jersey City, New Jersey, William Stone has been taught to value the gifts that are given to him and to take advantage of all of the opportunities that come along with them. He understands that his chance to study with the New Jersey SEEDS program before his freshman year of high school and the opportunity to gain a quality education at the Lawrenceville School were the product of someone else’s good will and therefore must be fully appreciated.

During his summers in Jersey City, William maintained an active relationship with his church by leading worship and working to help the youth in his church realize the significance of education. Wholly understanding the importance of taking advantage of a gift that could have easily been given to another, William volunteered as a counselor at the Lawrenceville School Camp during the summer following his junior year; the camp provides inner city youth in the greater Trenton area, New York City, and Baltimore with the opportunity to have fun away from the destructive environments in which many of them live. During that summer, William worked for Prudential Insurance out of the company’s central office in Newark, New Jersey, and he took two weeks off in the middle of his internship to honor his commitment to the Lawrenceville School Camp. While tackling some of Lawrenceville’s most difficult courses, William maintains a G.P.A. that is well within the top 10% of his graduating class of over 200 students. He received the Marcus D. French Award during his freshman year, the highest award given to a freshman; he was voted president of his senior house; he was inducted into the Eglin Society, given to 8 students who exhibit a high level of character during their sophomore year; he became a member of the Oval Society, open to students who complete an extensive amount of community service during their time at Lawrenceville; he was voted a member of Lawrenceville’s Honor Council; and he will earn cum laude recognition upon graduation. He enjoys studying science and reading literature, and he has pursued independent studies on Saudi Arabian culture and James Joyce’s momentous novel Ulysses. He has been blessed with opportunities to visit Japan, to work with private school students in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, and to tour London, Paris, and Amsterdam.

In the fall, William will go on to his study at Yale University. His commitment to helping others fuels his desire to attend medical school; consequently, he will pursue the pre-medical track. He will also take advantage of Yale’s literature and philosophy courses with the hope of broadening his understanding of human nature. Through all of his experiences, he realized that “while all humans are different, our similarities greatly outweigh our differences, and it is humankind’s unwillingness to look within to find those similarities that gives way to stereotypes, causes conflicts, and escalates into violence”; thus, it is his desire to counteract this unfortunate truth that drives him.