Ernst is Freshman Engineering Student and member of Price Family Fellows at Rutgers. Although he was never formally in out-of-home placement through the child welfare system, Ernst moved from Haiti to Florida when he was a small child, where he had lived for a number of years with his grandmother’s sister. When she was unable to adequately care for him, Ernst was sent to live with extended family members in New Jersey at the age of five. Ernst has moved frequently between the households of various family members and family friends since this time, and most recently has been staying with his biological uncle in Roselle Park, New Jersey. Although this uncle has provided Ernst with housing, Ernst has largely supported himself financially since he was a teenager, and receives very little support from his family. Ernst intends to study electrical and/or industrial engineering at Rutgers.