Grad reflects on family, Bruin legacy

By Teri H.P. Nguyen
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

  MAIYA HOLLIDAY/Daily Bruin

Fifth-year student Wesley Kwan will join ranks
with his parents as a UCLA

alumnus when he graduates with an English degree this
weekend.

He was found sitting alone in his Rieber Hall dorm room working
on his final paper before graduation. He was writing about love
relationships in Ian Fleming’s “Goldfinger”
““ a 007 classic.

Wesley Kwan, a graduating fifth-year English and sociology
student, has much to talk about when love at UCLA is involved. The
son of former UCLA lovebirds, Kwan said attending the same school
as both his parents has brought them closer together.

Kwan’s mother, Pauline, studied mathematics as an
undergraduate at UCLA before pursuing her master’s in
business administration from UCLA in the 1970s.

But it was as an undergraduate that Pauline met C.K. Kwan, a
graduate student in international finance.

“We met through mutual friends while I was an
undergraduate,” Pauline said.

For some reason, Kwan always thought his parents met during a TA
section.

“I always thought my dad was a TA for one of her
classes,” he said. “I didn’t know they met
through friends.”

Besides sharing stories, Kwan’s parents also share with
him their understanding of the academic pressure he faces.

“That made my experience here more manageable,” Kwan
said.

With his mother, he would talk about “the way things
were,” and vent about UCLA professors.

His father remembers when Westwood was a college village with a
Popeye’s Chicken among the other hip places to go.

“He was pretty distraught that Westwood doesn’t have
a Popeye’s Fried Chicken anymore. Now there’s just an
El Pollo Loco,” Kwan said about his dad.

“He likes fried chicken and I like fried chicken,”
he continued. “I think it’s genetic.”

Sporting events are great for the Kwans as well. Cheering for
the same Bruins make sports much more fun, he said, remarking that
cheering for the Sage Hens at Pomona College where his younger
brother Keith is a student, is not too exciting.

Walking down the memory lane of his parents made Kwan’s
eyes slightly watery since he will soon find his experiences at
UCLA stored somewhere on memory lane as well.

“I will miss college. I’ve learned so much about
myself here,” he said.

Kwan entered with the pressure to do well. There was pressure
from his parents to travel one of the roads most taken by UCLA
students: pre-med.

“I felt pressure from my parents not because they went
here, but because they spent a lot of money on me,” he
said.

But math and chemistry courses did not thrill him. Instead, he
found a love for books, writing and people.

“My parents were pretty supportive of my directional
career change,” he said. “I was surprised.”

After graduation, he hopes to find his niche in the world of
magazine editing and publishing, marketing or advertising, perhaps
a teaching position for high school students, or maybe even law
school.

Currently kicking the breeze in the dry casinos area of Reno,
his parents will fly down to attend two graduation ceremonies
““ one for English, another for sociology later this week.

A legacy of love ““ be it a husband, wife, friends, books,
self or family ““ could be found at UCLA for Kwan and his
parents.

“It would be cool to have a third generation Kwan go to
UCLA,” he said. “It’s their choice, but if I was
calling the shots, I would want my kids to come here.”

As Kwan puts the finishing touches on his
“Goldfinger” paper, he is sure this bond ““ this
Kwan-bond ““ will remain a classic.