Growing up I was always fascinated by how things worked. I was the kid that took apart the remote control and put it back together again. My parents knew early on that if my hands were busy, so was my mind. And they knew I came alive when I was working with my hands.  

Sometimes, when my mom was off from work, she’d take me to a science store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, across the river from our home in Philadelphia. I’d leave with some sort of D.I.Y. kit, like a baking soda volcano or a robot making set.   

My dad was on the road a lot, working as a truck driver, but when he’d come round, we’d sit for hours and build RC model planes. And sometimes, if we finished early enough, we’d head over to the airport, park the car and sit for hours, watching the planes take off and land. It never got old.  

Staring up into the sky, with my dad by my side and airplanes overhead, I knew, even as an eight-year-old kid from Philly, that I would be a pilot one day.  

I’m 21-years-old now, and nearly one year into my eighteen-month program at flight mechanic school. I’m excited about what awaits me after I graduate, but the road to get where I am today was not always clear or easy.   

TGR Foundation’s newest college-access course, “How to Find Scholarships,” is now live on the Learn & Earn™ app. Created by the team behind Acorns, Learn & Earn provides students with bite-sized courses covering a broad range of real-world topics including financial literacy, potential careers and life skills that prepare students for the future. For each course students complete, they earn real money toward an investment portfolio in their names, opening up a whole world of savings and investments.  

Currently a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, 16-year Christian Seong has a lot on his plate – and he likes it that way. When he’s not spending his free time thrift shopping or drawing, Christian keeps himself active and involved at school, and currently serves as the Associated Student Body President. Christian is also the Program Choir President of the Kennedy Singers and the co-President/co-Founder of the Humanitarian Resource Association as well as the John F. Kennedy High School Humanitarian Resource Association Branch Club. This summer, Christian participated in TGR Foundation’s virtual College Bound Academy (CBA) program, where he received the college guidance and support he was looking for. Read more about his experience with CBA.

With TGR Learning Lab campuses and the renowned Earl Woods Scholar Program impacting students across the country, TGR Foundation had established itself as a leader in STEM education and college-access by 2016. In spite of countless student success stories at that time, our founder, Tiger Woods, wanted to achieve more and set a goal to reach millions of students around the world. To reach that goal – in years, not decades – TGR Foundation began working to build a digital presence from the ground up.

We started by asking driving questions including and them with the launch of TGREDUExplore.org, a free platform developed in partnership with Discovery Education.

At just 14-years-old, Christopher “Topher” Cornell loves to take on new challenges. In the year-and-a half that he’s been a TGR Learning Lab student member, Topher has joined numerous classes exploring topics from graphic design to app development and forensics. A high school freshman at Cambridge Virtual Academy, Topher partook in the TGR Learning Lab’s Pi-ology class this summer and had the opportunity to work with a Raspberry Pi for the first time. Learn more about his hands-on experience with the Pi and how he plans to incorporate what he’s learned into his possible future career!