Stuart junior earns national poetry publication and acceptance to New Jersey Scholars Program

Ganeev Kaur '27 has earned two significant distinctions this spring: acceptance into the New Jersey Scholars Program and publication in a national poetry anthology.

Ganeev was selected for the New Jersey Scholars Program (NJSP), a five-week residential summer program hosted this year at the Peddie School. The program admits only 39 rising seniors statewide, representing an acceptance rate of 8%. Participants engage in an intensive, college-level curriculum built around seminar-style Harkness table discussions, a collaborative Arts Festival, and a 10-to-15-page research paper. This year's theme is "Game-Changers: Exploring the Consistency of Change."

She was also selected for publication in Figments of Time, the latest poetry anthology from Eber & Wein Publishing. Her poem appears on page 116.

Ganeev shared the following about both accomplishments:

"I have been writing poetry since the second grade, but my passion truly found its footing during my freshman year when I represented Stuart at the New Jersey Poetry Out Loud Mercer County competition. I went on to compete in Poetry Ourselves, performing an original spoken word piece that is currently featured on the NJPOL Instagram.

This experience motivated me to continue sharing my work with the world. Throughout this time, I relied on Ms. Cutalo and Ms. Marcy to coach me through my performing and writing, setting the poet-potential in motion. Their support and guidance opened my eyes to words as a means of expressing humanity: how each verb, exclamation, and metaphor holds the power to demonstrate real, authentic feeling.

Driven by this passion, I continued to push my boundaries. In English 10, we were tasked with writing a poem from the perspective of one woman in the Odyssey. My piece — centered on Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyric poetry who subtly facilitates the epic's creativity — was entered into a national publishing competition for amateur poets. After advancing through the competitive semifinal and final rounds, my poem was selected for publication in their annual anthology.

My dedication to exploring human expression recently led me to another incredible opportunity: the New Jersey Scholars Program (NJSP). This prestigious, five-week summer program accepts only 39 rising seniors statewide (an 8% acceptance rate). Hosted this year at the Peddie School, the program offers an intensive, college-level interdisciplinary curriculum centered around seminar-style 'Harkness table' discussions. Over the summer, I will collaborate on a thematically related Arts Festival and write a 10-15 page research paper. Inspired by this year's theme, 'Game-Changers: Exploring the Consistency of Change,' I plan to write about the influence of AI on the creative industry, rewriting the authentically human space of art."

Below is a photo of her poem. Congratulations, Ganeev!