My Story

Hello PTPS'ers. I think it's about time I contributed to this blog, so here's my story.

My name is Angeline and I was a Bayanihan intern in 07, Chair in 07-08, and the current Alumni Advisor. I transferred to UCLA in 06 from Ventura College. Before that I went to NYU for a year. So I've experienced my fair share of schools. From out of state private schools, to community colleges, to a UC. I even spent a semester abroad, but that's another story. I guess my point is out of all the schools I attended UCLA was the one where I felt most at home. Which is kind of odd since I never wanted to go to UCLA while I was in high school and I actually hated it there my first few weeks. But that all changed when I got more involved.

So my first two years of college, I focused on academics because somewhere along the way I decided that my goal was to graduate with honors. Also, during my freshman year I was still adjusting to living in New York and I figured I would have the next three years to get involved. But the summer after my first year my plans changed (long story short NYU does not give out sufficient financial aid and paying 50,000+ for three years was not an option for my family) and I went to community college. I took about 7 classes a semester at VC to make sure I could transfer in a year and I got involved as a tutor, but that was the extent of my community college experience.

Anyway, I was hoping to transfer to Berkley because I never pictured myself at UCLA. But since I didn't get in, UCLA it was. I didn't enjoy it very much at first, so I got involved to get my mind off of things and of course to build my resume. I started with BruinCorps, then Unicef, and then thanks to my cousin who also transferred to UCLA a few years back PTSP ( he suggested it because he wished he would have joined while he was there). I did a lot my first year at UCLA and PTSP was kind of in the back drop until we started prepping for SEND and until my SPEAR counselor started encouraging me to consider a leadership position. So in prepping for SEND I realized that PTSP was something I wanted to continue to be involved in and with the encouragement from my fellow interns I ran for Chair.

My last year at UCLA was crazy. I spent the first quarter living a care free life abroad and the last two worrying about keeping PTSP alive and my grades up (graduating with latin honors . Luckily, I had a very supportive board who put up with my craziness and we made it through. My best memories of college have been with PTSP and even though I can't express in words what PTSP has meant to me, I know everyone who is involved with this blog knows how important PTSP is for whatever reason.

So that's my story of how I came to be involved with PTSP.

That came out longer than I expected, and I didn't even talk about what I did with PTSP. But I can tell you what PTSP did for me. The leadership experience I gained in PTSP helped me get accepted into Teach For America, an organization that puts people passionate about equity in education in the classroom. So I am currently a Kindergarten teacher in Oakland. It wasn't the grade level I originally wanted, but I am happy with it. Although I don't plan to be a K teacher forever, it's something very rewarding for the time being. I am also in school working on my credentials and a master's in Education. My plan is to continue teaching for a few more years and go back and get another masters (maybe even a PhD) and become a community college professor, but in my experience plans change and that's okay with me.

I don't know how often I will be writing on this blog (I find it very stressful to think of something to write worthy enough for my peers to read) but know you can contact me anytime and if you ever find yourself in Oakland, don't be a stranger!

~angeline