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Back to Scholarship	2008 AEA Scholarship Recipients
		Alice Ho Scholarship Recipient Alice attends Mission San Jose High in Fremont, and is known as mature, capable, and turns in quality work. She writes, "I plan to attend school at the University of California San Diego. It's going to be a big change from life in the bay area where I've been for the last seven years. Prior to that, I lived in a variety of interesting places such as Hong Kong, Philippine and Taiwan. My exposure to different cultures and people made engaging in school activities easy and enjoyable. I made the varsity tennis team all four years and contributed to both the singles and doubles ladder. I even had the honor of serving as the team captain this year. I'm also involved in my school's art and literary magazine where I am an editor for our annual publication. Outside of school, I like to spend my time drawing, taking photographs and designing. I also like to stay in shape with tae kwon do, tennis, rock climbing and jogging." Among her accomplishments, she was selected to her league's first team in tennis, and she has had her photographs published. As far as her goals are concerned, she writes, "My true ambition is to inspire and to encourage people to think outside the box, whether it's through art or through research."

		Anna Poon Scholarship Recipient Anna is currently attending Skyline. She is an AP honor student, ranking at the top 10% of her class at Skyline; but outside of the academic part, she is also well-rounded. As a tennis player on Skyline's Varsity Tennis Team, a Principal Violinist of Skyline's Orchestra, a member of the Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley, the Co-President of Skyline Interact and Company Commander of Skyline's JROTC, she is not only studious, but well connected with people. She has also devoted considerable energy to community service through Skyline's Excel Club, and she cites "Rebuilding Together Oakland" (RTO) as one of her most exhausting but rewarding experiences. She believes that not only is there knowledge needed to be learnt in the classroom but also out in the real world. Anna devotes most of her free time towards her academic studies and extra-curriculars. In the fall, she will be attending the University of California, San Diego.

		Anna Yeung Scholarship Recipient Born and raised in Oakland, California, Anna Yeung is currently a proud senior of Oakland Technical High School. Her three greatest passions in life include scribbling in her countless notebooks, loosing herself in an engrossing novel, and drinking the perfectly brewed cup of coffee. Her two major accomplishments of her high school career include co-founding the Interact Club of Oakland Tech and overcoming her fear of the water after joining her school's swim team. She currently aims to become a lawyer, an aspiration molded by her years as a Mock Trial Attorney, and work for the United Nations or another international NGO. An avid daydreamer, Anna will be sorely disappointed if she does not finish writing a book by the time she is thirty-five. Anna's favorite subjects in school are English and History because both topics leave much up to interpretation, and she will most likely major in History or International Relations in college. She is currently making an agonizing decision between two shades of red - cardinal (Stanford) and crimson (Harvard).

		Carolyn Ha Scholarship Recipient Caroline attends Skyline High School. She writes, "Throughout my educational career, I have devoted a great portion of my time to mastering a language I learned to love—French—even though I did find the classes to be quite dull most of the time. I am interested in learning other languages as well, which are German and Spanish at the moment. I love culture and would like to go study abroad for a year in England, France, or Germany. Journalism has made a big impact on me as well, especially in my junior year. Although being a part of the school newspaper can be very energy consuming, I've made many friends and the Oracle team felt like family. Because of our great team work, we've published great newspapers that exceed past editions. I hope to excel at UC Berkeley as a first generation, Pre-Med student while still pursuing my interests in language, culture, and journalism. I know the path I am going to take is a difficult one with numerous obstacles both financially and mentally to overcome; but if there's one thing I learned in the last twelve years, it's that 'Impossible is Nothing' (Adidas)."

		Cindy Ruan Scholarship Recipient Xiaomei (Cindy) attends Oakland High and is another immigrant who has worked very hard to achieve great academic success. During her sophomore year, she became president of the Operation Adjustment Club, a club she helped start to offer assistance to immigrant students like herself adapt to the community. She writes, "I came to this world as a Pisces on the last day of February 1990. At the age of 7 I came to the United States. I am an active individual in a diverse community, a unique person with many sides to my personality, a passionate learner who wants to acquired different experiences and skills, a big lover for foods and books, a person with an appetite as big as my passion for traveling and reading, and an empowered individual, who wants to create changes in my community."

		Connie Lau Scholarship Recipient Connie is a senior at Oakland Technical High School and has been enrolled in the Engineering Academy there since her sophomore year. As someone who grew up in a traditional Chinese family, the idea of pursuing a "technical" career created considerable consternation! Nevertheless, her love of the environment, tall skyscrapers, and beautiful landscapes motivated her to persevere and she will be attending the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She writes, "In the academy, I had the opportunity to learn engineering graphics, technical drafting, modeling, and architecture all of which inspired my passion for engineering. I also involve myself in various extracurricular activities and community service projects which motivated me to pursue my intended major; I hope to become able to improve and better the community and to build sustainability in the environment. I am also the vice president of the Junior Statesmen of America Debate Club at my school, where I have the chance to learn and debate the current political, economic, and social issues plaguing our society. In my spare time, I like to read books, go to the movies, travel and do graphic designs."

		Eva Lau Scholarship Recipient Eva is a senior at Skyline High School, finishing in the top 5% of her class. She plans to attend University of California, San Diego this fall, majoring in Pharmacological Chemistry. She will be the first in her family to go to college. She gets her motivation to do well in school from her parents who immigrated from Guangzhou and had to work very hard to establish themselves in the United States. Eva is currently the Opinions Editor of her school's newspaper and President of Literary Journal. She has been involved with Excel Club, a community service organization, throughout her four years of high school through which she has helped with AIDS Walk and Breast Cancer Walk. In addition, Eva dedicates her time to volunteering at Oakland Children's Hospital as an Art Cart volunteer. In her free time, she enjoys baking and ceramics.

		Joseph Harmon Scholarship Recipient Joseph currently attends Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, and hopes to continue his studies next year at Stanford University. He has maintained a 4.4 grade-point-average over the past four years, aided by a deep curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge. Outside of the classroom he serves as captain of the hurdling squad of Las Lomas's distinguished Track and Field team. He also deeply enjoys acting in school and community theatre whenever he can afford to. In his application, he wrote about one of his most memorable experiences, transforming stories written by grade school children into 15 minute plays as part of "Read Across America". He wrote, "I'll never forget the face of one little boy as I got up to perform the innocently mischievous tale of 'James the Dragon'. It was the little boy who had written the story. Seeing how that one boy reacted made the experience impossible to forget." Joseph graciously thanks the AEA for their support and confidence in his continued education.

		Judy Pun Scholarship Recipient Judy attends Oakland High School and has done very well academically placing in the top 5% of her class. She writes, "I was born on January 16th, 1990 in Oakland, California. When I was in preschool, my class had a fieldtrip to the fire station. The fire truck and the clothing that the workers wore impressed me a lot. I would always hear the siren pass by my house, and I would know that the fire fighters are about to save somebody; this inspired me to be a fire fighter. At Oakland High School, I am a part of the basketball, softball, and soccer team and the Environmental Science Academy. As an athlete, I became more of an outdoors person. In addition, as for the academy, I was motivated to help my community with environmental issues like pollution and energy use. The job of a fire fighter fits right into this concept. I am preparing to major in environmental science at UC Davis and then join their fire fighting program with the studies of an emergency medical technician."

		Kayla Peng Scholarship Recipient Kayla will be graduating from Oakland Military Institute and plans to attend UC Berkeley in the fall. She has not only done very well academically, ranking 2nd in her class, but she is also known for her spirit, energy and drive. She is interested in eventually working on global issues, specifically AIDS prevention programs in third world countries. She is very sensitive to plight of millions of children who are now orphans because of this disease. She writes, "I hope to double major in psychology and mathematics. I am currently playing on the golf team, and spend most of my time playing when I am not tutoring or doing homework."

		Kholoud Abdullah Scholarship Recipient Kholoud arrived in the US from Yemen two and a half years ago without any English language skills whatsoever. In the short time since, she has not only mastered English, but also has excelled in her studies, amassing a GPA that is close to 4.0! In fact, many of her classmates now look to her for assistance and she regularly tutors in various subjects including math, physics, chemistry, and biotechnology. She is known by her teachers as having "a powerful drive to succeed, a love for learning, great curiosity, a strong intellect as well as fantastic work habits". In addition to tutoring, Kholoud has been involved with the Journalism Club as an editor and contributor, the Environment Friend's Club as president, and in an effort at her school in Yemen to create a fund to pay tuition for girls in need, a common and widespread issue in Yemin. In the US, she has taken internships at Children's Hospital and Biotech Partners, and worked part-time at Alameda County Medical Center. She writes, "I want to go to college but it will be tough for me to decide my major among all the subjects that I like: math, physics, chemistry, biotech, or political science. However, as a student of a minority group I want to help other minority students go to college because education can definitely be a tool to strengthen my community. I want to be a Cardiologist and help people who cannot afford medical insurance by opening my own clinic."

		Kiara Hernandez Scholarship Recipient Kiara is a student at Media Academy in East Oakland. She writes, "I was born in Los Angeles California. At the age of one, my family and I moved to Mexico because of the lack of resources. When I was nine years old; my family and I came back to the United States. That's when I realized that I missed a lot of schoolwork. As an English learner, I struggled a lot to improve my speaking skills. Because I am the oldest child in my family, I have many household duties in addition to my extracurricular activities. I am a participant of my school's leadership class. I also participate on my school soccer team. I love education because through education I will have the opportunity to reach my dreams and give back to my community. In the future I would like to have a career in the law field. My experiences in the community, and education have given me a completely different perspective of my role in the world. I aspire to cause change and progression."

		Kim Tran Scholarship Recipient Kim attends Skyline High and has done well academically, placing in the top 5% of his class. He has a strong interest in science, specifically in the medical field. He wrote, "My long-term goal is to become a person who finds and pinpoints the causes for natural death and delay its effects, perhaps even stop the process overall." He also believes in the concept of karma and the need to try to do good for people everyday. He quotes Faith Resnick as saying, "People that hate cats will come back as mice in their next life!" He writes further, "I can say that I love to learn new things. Also, I LOVE to eat new food. I've worked at AMC theatres in Emeryville for the past two years, holding the position of operations coordinator. I have 1 younger brother and 2 older sisters. I am currently UC Davis bound."

		Mark Grossman Scholarship Recipient Mark attends Bishop O'Dowd High school and is known there as a responsible student with a strong work ethic. He is also known for his good sense of humor. Much of his motivation to work hard comes from pursuing his long-term passions of martial arts and music. He writes, "I have been practicing Tae Kwan Do for 11 years and playing drums for 8 years. I will be attending San Diego State University next year with the hope of majoring in business with a minor in music." For the past 6 years, Mark has been teaching 7 to 10 year old Oakland youths the basics of Tae Kwan Do and he found that earning their respect was no easy task. He learned how to do this and found it very rewarding. He also writes "I feel I am helping the youth of Oakland gain a better understanding of respect and determination. They develop a personal sense of pride and self-esteem. Moving to the next belt provides them a goal to strive toward and incentive to continue to work hard."

		Tiffany Chan Scholarship Recipient Tiffany Chan attends Piedmont High School where she has not only done extremely well academically, but is also very active in extracurriculars and is a recognized leader. She has applied for and been accepted for early admission at Wellesley College, alma mater for such luminaries as Madeline Albright, Hillary Clinton, and Soong Mei-ling (aka Madame Chiang Kai-shek). She hopes to pursue education policy and economics in her studies there, and is particularly interested in Chinese history and culture. She writes, "Over the past four years in high school, I have enjoyed being active in my school as ASB treasurer and an editor of my school newspaper and have represented my peers in founding a Wellness Center at my school. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to give back to my community through rewarding experiences working with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and El Centro Infantil de La Raza. In my free time I enjoy playing volleyball and reading."

		Torbertha Torbor Scholarship Recipient Torbertha has traveled perhaps the longest road of any of our scholars in the history of our program. She and her family fled the civil wars of Liberia, and had to travel on foot to a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast. They came to the United States 4 years ago with limited English skills. Despite these enormous handicaps, Torbertha has done very well at Media Academy High School in East Oakland. She ranks in the top 10% of her class academically. She writes, "I came to the United States about four years ago because there were wars in my country, Liberia. I came here with my mother and my three siblings. I am one of five children and the daughter of a single parent. Despite all the barriers I have faced, I have become a stronger and well-rounded person. I am fortunate enough to gain this opportunity of continuing my education. I will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall. I will be the first generation in my family to attend college. I hope one day with all my heart to achieve my dream of becoming a doctor and giving back to my community. Through my education, I can make an impact on people's health, both physically and mentally." In her application, she also wrote, "I will never forget the helplessness I felt, when my older sister became critically ill in the refugee camp in Ivory Coast. Not having the ability to help her or even find medical aid for her made me question my limited knowledge and created in me a desire to lean."

		Ye Zou Scholarship Recipient Linda attends Skyline High School. She writes, "I immigrated from China when I was six years old. I dedicate my free time to my studies and I perform community service regularly through the Oakland Public Library and on behalf of the Skyline Excel Club, where I serve as Vice-President. I enjoy music and writing and am a member of the Skyline Orchestra in the violin section and the school newspaper as the News Editor. I plan to attend UC Davis or UC San Diego next fall and major in biomedical or environmental engineering." Despite her background as an ESL student, Linda has mastered English; last year, she won the district's Chester Himes Mystery Writing Contest!