Jeff Yang Memorial Scholarship 533 Floral Park Ter South Pasadena, CA 91030 jeffseinkwanyangscholarship@gmail.com

2019 Recipients

Rosana Maris Arias

La Puente High School
Stanford University

Rosana Maris Arias will undoubtedly achieve great things in her life.  She graduated Valedictorian from La Puente High School.  In addition to excelling academically, Rosana was President of the Warrior Field Corps, the school marching band, and President of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A.), a student-run program that encourages students to reach higher education and to explore Latinx culture.  She also founded Students For A Successful Transition (S.F.A.S.T.), an organization that aims to get more high school students into college.  Rosana plans to study Political Science at Stanford University in order to “make real and powerful change through policy.”  She hopes to create educational reform, expand access to higher education, and increase funding for disadvantaged schools. We look forward to seeing her accomplish all of those goals and so much more.


Luke Kyaw

Alhambra High School
UCLA

Luke Kyaw has a deep commitment to advance the rights of immigrants and to challenge discrimination.  Luke immigrated to the United States from Myanmar when he was 14 years old.  Despite the language and cultural challenges he faced, Luke nonetheless graduated near the top of his class at Alhambra High School, with a weighted GPA of 4.18.  Outside of the classroom, Luke was involved in the VoteAt16, a campaign to increase student representation and promote civic engagement, and worked as a tutor.  He intends to double major in Public Affairs and Economics with a minor in Spanish at UCLA.  Luke wants to build a career in law or public service and to use his position to advance the rights of immigrants like his family.  We are so happy to help him make those dreams a reality.


Leslie Ramirez

South El Monte High School
U.C. Berkeley

Leslie Ramirez is an inspiration.  She has overcome tremendous barriers through hard work and tenacity.  For the first 14 years of her life, her family lived in a house with three other families.  Nonetheless, Leslie feels grateful for her parents – both Mexican immigrants – who tirelessly worked to feed and house Leslie and her siblings.  They taught her the importance of respect, kindness, and perseverance.  With those values, Leslie graduated at the top of her class with a GPA of 4.13.  She plans to pursue Global Studies at U.C. Berkeley to learn about the histories and cultures of underdeveloped countries and to eventually help promote the development of those countries.  Leslie does not plan to wait until after graduating from college to make a change.  She wants to put on workshops and web posts to address and tackle the issue of food insecurity in Berkeley. We have no doubt she will the world a better place.