Tag: Earl Woods Scholar Program

Earl Woods Scholar Alumnus Eduardo Muñoz has hit a couple of “speed bumps,” as he calls them, throughout his personal and professional journey. However, raised in a family that instilled in him and modeled unwavering determination, no obstacle ever took him off course. When his own father faced health issues several years ago, Eduardo took from the situation life lessons that have steered him through his undergraduate days at Allegheny College and onto his now former professional career at Edwards Life Sciences.

After being accepted into the University of California, Berkeley, the uncertainty Yeon Jin “Grace” Lee felt around her future at the university and in the United States dwindled as she went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in engineering. From UC Berkeley to NASA, her education opened doors to ignite her career and help her reach higher to obtain a Master of Science in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. It was through this experience that she gained her green card and security in her place in America.

From South Korea to Southern California, Grace overcame obstacles in her path as an undocumented immigrant and achieved great success. We recently connected at the flagship TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim, CA to reflect on her journey and how she’s using her platform and experiences to empower other students like her.

Andrés Cuamani still remembers his first day at the TGR Learning Lab fondly. A 5thgrader at Dr. Peter Marshall Elementary School, Andrés spent a week at the Anaheim-based learning lab studying forensic science with his classmates. From surveying clues at a mock crime scene to studying fingerprinting techniques, Andrés experienced a different kind of learning. But what he really left with was the realization that there were countless opportunities awaiting him.

From 7th– 12thgrade, Andrés was a regular in the building, taking after-school classes from aerospace engineering to golf, and forging lasting, impactful relationships with the teachers. At the age of 16, Andrés became a volunteer at the learning lab and soon after, he became an official employee, landing his first job as a golf range attendant. When he realized his passion for teaching coupled with a desire to lend support to students like himself, Andrés took on an added role in Academic Support, a job he still has today.

Ever since I was a little boy, I loved science. Although I come from a rural, mountainous Chinese village called Qian Yang Cun in Fuzhou, I dreamt of becoming a scientist. I always knew I wanted to use science to help people. As a child, I would collect plants and soil from around the mountain and mix them together to create my own “panaceas,” ready to cure dying plants and insects along my path.

“Go chopethat table—it’s open lah!” These are words I heard every day this past summer as I entered the Singaporean hawker centers in search of chicken and rice, like every other local during mealtime. Singaporeans flock to these large hawker cafeterias to fill up on delicious foods that cost about $4 a dish. These food […]

As the newest member of TGR Foundation’s Earl Woods Scholar team, I hit the ground running this summer, taking part in one of our hallmark events, Pre-College Retreat. In July, our team welcomed 21 scholars from Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Orange County to the annual retreat in Southern California. Spanning three days, the Pre-College Retreat is an integral college-access program designed to prepare our scholars, many of whom are the first in their family to attend college, for their first year on campus.

I was accepted into Boston College on one condition; I would have to complete their summer transition program. I agreed and made my way to Boston during the summer of 2018. During the first week of the program, I experienced an incident that I have still not been able to shake, over a year later.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States; around 7% of all U.S. adults have had at least one major depressive episode. Among the most prevalent demographics of MDD diagnoses are college students like Earl Woods Scholars. Individuals between 18-25 are more likely to have depression. Based on my own experiences with depression, I’m hoping that some of these musings alongside tips I’ve learned along the way might help.

Although my academic career at Pitzer College has come to an end, my learning journey will not. Two weeks prior to graduation, the foreseeable future was ironically still abstract and difficult for me to grasp. It brought me a feeling of excitement and nostalgia, encouraging me to reflect on my last four years at Pitzer College and six years as an Earl Woods Scholar.

Within two and a half weeks, I realized the significance and impact of friendship on the other side of the globe. I have had friends back home for years, many of whom I met during my first two years at Stony Brook University in New York. However, the ones I met throughout my study abroad experience in Florence, Italy were memorable. These friends were significant because through them and my short time abroad, I came to realize something about myself and learned exactly how I was meant to live my life.