Students win service award
By Melissa Joffe
May 10, 2009 10:12 p.m.
Four fourth-year students were recognized for their outstanding leadership in community service at a ceremony on Wednesday, where they received the 2009 Charles E. Young Award and $700 was donated to a cause of their choice.
The students recognized were Frank Rodriguez, Wendy Tseng, Jonathan Lee and Laura Petry.
The four Bruins are “representative of the finest examples of service we’re providing,” said Robert J. Naples, associate vice chancellor for student and campus life.
Rodriguez, a political science and Chicana and Chicano studies student, said he started the Proyecto de Jornaleros (Day Laborer Project) four years ago with one goal in mind: to give a virtually silent community a voice.
He and a group of UCLA students teach English and computer skills to undocumented laborers in Los Angeles so that the jornaleros, or day workers, can speak with bosses and know their legal rights. He said his program employs the notion of “free consciousness,” combining one-on-one action with reflection through dialogue with the community.
“The biggest part is that we want to have an education about dialogue, where we learn from each other,” Rodriguez said. “I want to continue living by that methodology.”
Next year, Rodriguez said he will continue working with the community as part of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs that trains civic leaders. He said he also hopes to attend law school.
The second recipient, Tseng, a student in the five-year physiology master’s program, created the HOPE 4 Homeless Project in February 2008 because she said she was enraged by stories of patient dumping on Skid Row.
She partnered with the Fresh Start Rehabilitation Program, an initiative run by the Los Angeles Mission shelter, to tutor mostly immigrants and 40- to 50-year-old students who have struggled with substance abuse and homelessness. The tutoring sessions focus on English as a second language or the General Education Degree exam to help them acquire jobs.
Lee, a political science student, also worked toward benefitting the homeless population in Los Angeles. He said he saw the amount of wasted swipes in the dining halls his first quarter at UCLA and started the Swipes for Homeless program that runs food drives at the end of each quarter.
He said he urged students to cash in their unused swipes for food and drinks donated to homeless shelters in Los Angeles. The program has been widely successful in Los Angeles, where there exists a high concentration of homelessness.
Lee said he hopes to attend law school and start a business, but he said he will keep Swipes for Homeless in mind, as he looks to expand the project outside of UCLA.
The fourth recipient, Petry, an English student, leads Bruin Partners, an organization of 60 to 70 volunteers that links UCLA mentors with Marina Del Rey Middle School to encourage academics and college during the difficult transition to high school, which she experienced firsthand.
“No matter what your background, middle school is hard for everybody. I never found my niche. I never fit in,” Petry said.
Petry said she hopes to enter the nonprofit sector after graduation.
Referring to the four award recipients, Naples said, “We’re very proud of them.”
