Iveth's UCLA Fund

I never knew what it was like for a brown girl to attend college for the first time until that brown girl was me. I was only Iveth, a teenager from San Jose, California who loved to dance, write, and attended school on the East Side--home of at-risk youth who had no plans beyond high school. Every day I carried my backpack full of school supplies, homework, and my dreams. I was unsure about how these would work together, but I had nothing else to lose, so I gave it a chance. The first couple of years of high school were easy for me until junior year came along: college applications. What was college anyway? And why did people pay thousands of dollars to go to one? My family never went to college, but instilled the importance of it in my life for a better future. However, I didn't bother to think about applying after seeing what the cost would be. I wasn't willing to put my single mother of two in debt just so I could scribble down lecture notes from a college professor.

One by one, people around me came up to me and encouraged me to apply to college. My friends envied me for my 4.25 GPA and straight A's record. They didn't want me to put that to waste. My teachers praised my leadership skills in the many clubs I founded and committed myself to. My family admired my passion for helping others when I traveled to Nicaragua and addressed the lack of education and everyday resources that people need in order to live in  a poverty-stricken country. Everyone I loved kept pointing out all the incredible things I was doing with my life because I hadn't noticed it in myself until they acknowledged me for it. I had the makings of a promising, compassionate, and resilient individual that could continue to accomplish many things in college. I was convinced.

I applied to 20 institutions and once college acceptance letters arrived, I got accepted to the 4 UC's I had hoped for: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis. As of now, I still can't believe I attend UCLA as a freshman studying International Development Studies. People's faith in me led me to become a part of one of the best schools in the country, and I'll forever be thankful for that. I would also be appreciative if you see the potential others saw in me by kindly donating to my college fund. I want to use this money to pay off my $34,000 tuition and hopefully (fingers crossed!) start my own non-profit organization that will send high school students to developing countries around the globe to encourage them to tackle social, political, and economic challenges that those countries face. All the while making these high school students the next inspiring leaders of their generation. I don't know if a brown girl like me has accomplished such goals, but I'm willing to be that one individual who was brave enough to try.


Please share my college fund or donate! Any option will help :)

Above is a picture of me getting Bruintized. Go Bruins!