Happy 7th week everyone!! Today fro TRANSFER CRUSH TUESDAY we will be featuring Jim Ong!! he is a 4th year Psychology major and he trasnfered from Los Angeles Valley College he is a very unique and inspiring person. Here is more about him:
Other than the academic opportunities and pathways, UCLA substantiated my reason to move forward. When I was fifteen years old, my brother and I became homel...ess and we had to settle at a small place in Koreatown. My brother saw something in me and always promised that he was going to support me through college. But of course I knew that promise was only a full-hearted empty promise because we were busy filling our stomach with watered cereal. Eventually, we had to be separated after about a year of living together. He left to Alaska and I stayed back at a closet-like attic room nearby. When you’re dead poor, you get to see people without the masks because no one bothers to invest creating an image of themselves for you. The worst part about being poor is that the people you’d expect to get help from will not help you. I also didn't have many friends because everyone thought I was a loser. Who’d hang around with that socially awkward kid? Because of all this, I wanted to stand up in the middle of garbage pile and shout out to the world that I was here – alive. I learned my purpose in life when my brother died six years ago. Apparently life gave him more pain than what he had done to himself. No one understood why he did what he did… except, me. Nonetheless, when my brother died he fulfilled one of his promises: he sent me to college. With his life insurance comp., I bought a house and a used Honda civic. Then, I enrolled at a community college after Army. I told myself that I will not let his sacrifice drown in vain. For me, if community college is a bridge to a 4-year institution, then UCLA is a bridge to purpose – law school. When I become a lawyer I am going to speak for people who've become silenced through poverty. I am going to fight for and defend people like my brother who exists in our society. The quantity of numbers in our bank accounts shouldn't determine the quality of our fundamental rights. I believe that the greatest weapon that we possess as American citizens, are our words. If we become silenced because of an empty wallet, social disparity, gender, sex, age, religion, or the lack of college degree…. then what kind of life are we living? Those fancy letter of recommendations written by elected officials, shiny metals, exaggerated descriptions on our resumes, awards fabricated inside picture frames are not the things that makes us unique. As one notorious philosopher Aristotle once said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”. We are at college not only to fulfill the standards of academia, but also to settle our standard in purpose of life. So, what makes me unique? I am just like you but only with my version of the story. I am a UCLA transfer student and I am inspired. And I have a reason to move forward.
Other than the academic opportunities and pathways, UCLA substantiated my reason to move forward. When I was fifteen years old, my brother and I became homel...ess and we had to settle at a small place in Koreatown. My brother saw something in me and always promised that he was going to support me through college. But of course I knew that promise was only a full-hearted empty promise because we were busy filling our stomach with watered cereal. Eventually, we had to be separated after about a year of living together. He left to Alaska and I stayed back at a closet-like attic room nearby. When you’re dead poor, you get to see people without the masks because no one bothers to invest creating an image of themselves for you. The worst part about being poor is that the people you’d expect to get help from will not help you. I also didn't have many friends because everyone thought I was a loser. Who’d hang around with that socially awkward kid? Because of all this, I wanted to stand up in the middle of garbage pile and shout out to the world that I was here – alive. I learned my purpose in life when my brother died six years ago. Apparently life gave him more pain than what he had done to himself. No one understood why he did what he did… except, me. Nonetheless, when my brother died he fulfilled one of his promises: he sent me to college. With his life insurance comp., I bought a house and a used Honda civic. Then, I enrolled at a community college after Army. I told myself that I will not let his sacrifice drown in vain. For me, if community college is a bridge to a 4-year institution, then UCLA is a bridge to purpose – law school. When I become a lawyer I am going to speak for people who've become silenced through poverty. I am going to fight for and defend people like my brother who exists in our society. The quantity of numbers in our bank accounts shouldn't determine the quality of our fundamental rights. I believe that the greatest weapon that we possess as American citizens, are our words. If we become silenced because of an empty wallet, social disparity, gender, sex, age, religion, or the lack of college degree…. then what kind of life are we living? Those fancy letter of recommendations written by elected officials, shiny metals, exaggerated descriptions on our resumes, awards fabricated inside picture frames are not the things that makes us unique. As one notorious philosopher Aristotle once said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”. We are at college not only to fulfill the standards of academia, but also to settle our standard in purpose of life. So, what makes me unique? I am just like you but only with my version of the story. I am a UCLA transfer student and I am inspired. And I have a reason to move forward.
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