Preparing for Academic Success

I grew up in Santa Ana, California, which is the poorest city in Orange County.  My high school was largely populated by low-income people of color and new immigrants, and the education standards there were ridiculously poor.  My advanced placement history class was a huge joke...the teacher simply had students take turns reading out loud verbatim from the text book.  No discussion or analysis of the material; no creativity whatsoever in learning.  I’m actually quite bitter when I think how academically ill-prepared I was when I made it to UC Berkeley.  With most classes in college graded on a curve, and having to compete with the brightest minds across the country, I practically flunked out of physics, chemistry, math, and other courses that would have allowed me to follow a pre-med course.

Perhaps fate decided I was better suited to becoming a photographer anyway.

Nonetheless, education remains important to me, and ensuring access to education for under-served minorities tops my social change priorities.  One of my favorite groups to work with is Level the Playing Field Institute (LPFI). Their Summer Math and Science Honors (SMASH) program works with low-income high school students of color to engage them in science, technology, engineering and math classes over an intense five week course at UC Berkeley.  Students also receive ongoing academic support over a span of three years. Recently this summer, they’ve expanded their program to the Stanford University campus, and I’m proud to document their growing success.  I often wonder if I had the support of organizations like LPFI when I was in high school, would my life have turned out differently?