RALPH BUNCHE SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Success Stories

you can surmount the obstacles in your path if you are determined courageous and hardworking permit no one to dissuade you from pursuing the goals you set for yourselves ralph bunch the los angeles city college foundation presents the ralph bunch scholars sharing their stories of success victoria butross medina is an lecc alumna who graduated from johns hopkins university with a masters of science degree i'm so grateful to lacc and the foundation for giving me so many scholarships to keep going uh but i did just graduate today with a master's of science in education from johns hopkins with a 4.0 i ended up doing teach for america after graduating from berkeley so if you are an english major and you are looking at where to transfer know that if you receive financial aid you get four free ucs to transfer to and for free csus um and berkeley is definitely a top notch school not just because they're like world ranked but because their english department cares probably just as much as lacc's english department which is also just top notch dana brinklin was an lacc english major she is currently at uc berkeley the transfer just like everybody else said the transfer experience was so much um what i won't say easy but it was it was less frightening being a ralph bunch student my research has to do with colorism and black feminist thought and so i'll do that and then we'll also be applying to phd programs which is just crazy because i feel like i just left berkeley and this time next year i'll be going into a um a phd program and i'm hoping to stay at berkeley because like victoria said the english department is amazing ralph bond scholars and the english department at berkeley i would be nothing without them thank you jonah evans is an lacc graduate who transferred to amherst college i graduated lacc december 2016 and then i've transferred to amherst college which is a small liberal arts college um and now i'm in grad school a little context and then at syracuse university and what i realized is that like when i was in the ralph bunch college scholars program i think similar to what dana was saying was that like that were pushed like at the same time like they're we're not being like smited down like at every corner they're cultivating our skills and amherst college actually has amazing financial aid and i was in the position to where i got a full ride i think it's about twenty percent of the people uh it's a full ride and twenty percent it's they pay the full tuition hannah harrells is an lacc graduate currently at oxford university in london so i'm i too have a jack and cook scholarship recipient and i can't sing enough praises about being a recipient for that um the jack king cook scholarship is just one of the largest i think i think actually it's the largest undergraduate scholarship program and they i know are still giving 40 000 annually but as i step into my master's program at oxford they're gonna give me one fifty thousand it's an if it's a scholarship well worth pursuing uh yeah um and i'm a parent student so that really comes in handy england is a very expensive place and um as a parent student it's even more expensive because you're looking at cost of food and all sorts of things that you don't often foresee um also you have to kind of prove your um your your worth um before stepping foot in england to the people at the visa you know the embassy and so forth so it really helps to um to be a recipient of this particular scholarship i'm really glad to hear everybody's doing well edna santos is an lacc alumna and a graduate of vcu's school of medicine i am currently a third year phd candidate at virginia commonwealth university in richmond virginia so i am training as a behavioral pharmacologist and my work focuses on studying the mechanisms expression and treatment of different pain states i graduated from lacc in 2016 and i transferred to bcu's undergraduate campus to finish my biology degree and i had one rule for myself which was to graduate within two years i didn't want to be a statistics i didn't want to drop out and i was able to do it i graduated in two years and that same year i got into a phd so i went straight from bachelor's to a phd and i've been here since and all of that was because of the rbs program miriam alivarian is an lacc graduate who is currently at yale university i wanted to say how grateful i am to lacc because it has prepared me to transfer if like the foundation office wasn't there i wouldn't be able to afford college and i'm like overall very grateful to lacc or albany scholars program and every other program so i was like part of student government this year i'm going to be doing research uh this summer at mit with the graduate faculty because i have graduate plans related to that research and then next year i'm actually working at barclays thank you for giving me this opportunity to also say my a couple of words about lacc and think william horowitz is transferring to ucla as an english major i was brought up thinking college was completely out of my reach completely impossible and um thanks to the efforts of rbs and dr muller specifically have been disabused of that notion and uh after working with other first-gen students and students who believe that education is is some exclusive endeavor that is not for them being able to share the kinds of assets and resources like through scholarships that are available to students this is something that i'm going to take with me always and it would have been impossible without rbs the lacc foundation thanks our ralph bunch scholars for sharing their stories of determination and success the lacc foundation paving the path to success one student at a time

Student Success

The Ralph Bunche Scholars Program is proud to showcase our talented students. Our students have shown that with hard work, courage, and tenacity, dreams can become a reality. We applaud their achievements.

Hear What Our Alumni Say About Their Experience in the Ralph Bunche Scholars Program!

Brett Anderson:

Transferred to Stanford in 2016 as a psychology major.

“The RBScholars program prepared me in two ways. First, the support offered by faculty and other students allowed me to reach beyond what I thought I was capable of, like applying to schools I thought I couldn’t afford or get into. The financial aid package Stanford offered me was far better than any UC, and I share that information precisely so that prospective transfer students won’t rule schools out because they think they are too expensive. Second, being in this honors program showed me the benefit of working with other students who are driven and passionate about learning together.”

Hannah Gehrels:

LACC Phi Theta Kappa President, Hannah Gehrels, transfers this fall to Columbia University courtesy of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and the GS Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship.

“Thanks to the rigorous preparation of the RBS program, which indulged my push for 6 honors classes, and the laborious research for my honors presentation at UCI, guided by Dr. Muller and Dr. Bartelt, I feel ready for Columbia.”

Sazeda Sultana:

“Ralph Bunch Scholars Program at LACC constantly encouraged me every step of the way. From preparing me for a research university through its research-oriented curriculum to helping with the transfer process, this program guided me on my journey of the learning process.”

John Niroula:

“I ended up graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a double major in Physics and Electrical Engineering! Better yet, my whole degree was paid for by the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, which is America's largest transfer scholarship. The Ralph Bunche Scholars Program's curriculum definitely helped ease me into MIT's, and it definitely helped get me in (all of my recommenders are current honors instructors), so I'm proud to be a Ralph Bunche Scholar!

Matthew Lambuth:

“I transferred to UCLA for electrical engineering in 2016. My involvement in the Ralph Bunche Scholars Program helped refine my critical thinking with additional research projects, boost my efficiency in writing formal laboratory reports, and gain confidence through public speaking. I recommend the RBSP for anyone hungry to get ahead.”

Micaella Libunao:

"I graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Comparative Literature ('17). This fall, I will be continuing my studies at UCLA for my M.A., where I have been offered a Graduate Fellowship to do research on the literature of Asian American (un)documented immigrants, as well as postcolonial theory. RBS has played an enormous role with helping me transfer to a top-tier university, along with preparing me for the intricate workload of a research-based institution."