I received the JIF scholarship in 2012 and attended Stanford Summer Session. The program had such a great impact on my educational and professional goals that I returned to California to attend UCLA after graduating from South Point High School. It was my dream to attend UCLA, and the experience at Stanford, made possible by the Joyce Ivy Foundation, enhanced my understanding of the college admissions process and exposed me to the rigorous academic courses that I would be challenged with as an undergraduate. As a second year Biochemistry major/English minor at UCLA, I owe the success I have had so far to how the Joyce Ivy Foundation nurtured my academic and professional ambitions.
To me, being a Joyce Ivy Foundation Fellow is an opportunity to “pay it forward” to other young women from similar economic and geographic backgrounds through increasing awareness of the opportunities which await them at elite universities. I look forward to spreading the word for anyone who is eligible to apply for the Joyce Ivy scholarship and seeing where their summer adventure takes them. The people I met through the Stanford Summer Program were a diverse group of undergraduate students, faculty members, and other summer scholars. Despite differences in background, we all had in common a desire to learn. With the help of their insights, I put together carefully written personal statements and supplements unique to each college, and was accepted into my dream school, UCLA. I can’t wait to help others through the stressful college admissions season.
My experiences in communicating with the track and field/cross country coaches at Brown, Oberlin, University of Chicago, as well as many other colleges have given me a strong foundation of understanding the recruitment process for student-athletes. In the end, I chose UCLA for its academics and declined offers to juggle studying and running track at other schools. The logistics of communicating with athletic coaches can be cumbersome, and I hope to offer experience to other prospective student athletes to help the process go smoothly through their busy senior years.
Now, in my second year at UCLA, I feel adjusted and ready to tackle my coursework and college life. The adjustment of going from a small town to a large university has proven to be challenging at times. However, I believe that the Joyce Ivy Foundation prepared to readily accept this challenge and thrive. I look forward to helping young women from similar backgrounds to expand their academic horizons and help them find the college that they will call home for a rewarding four years of studying, meeting new people, and discovering the person they ultimately want to be.
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