UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA cara samen osaaceez UNERKELEY # DAVIS IRVINE # [08 ANGELS « MERCED « RIVERSIDE» SANDIEGO w SAN FRANCISCO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED GATEWAY SCHOLARS CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS 80 EAST SHAW AVENUE, SUITE 105 FRESNO, CALIFORNIA 93710-7712 February 18, 2017 To Whom It May Concern: 1 am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Hue Xiong, a senior at Merced High School. 1 am the Gateway Scholars Program Coordinator and began working with students at MHS in November 2015. The Gateway Scholars Program is an academic outreach program that promotes and provides access to higher education through academic counseling, higher education workshops, and visits to university/college campuses. Hue is an active student in Gateway Scholars who epitomizes many traits of resiliency and devotion. I recruited Hue in the spring of his junior year, he knew he was four-year eligible but felt he knew very little of the process. He is the youngest of a large, blended family and feels the pressure to not only make his parent’s proud but his siblings as well. He is the only child in his family to be born in the Unites States and was raised fully understanding what the immigration process was like for his family. He has siblings who have continued on in their education after high schoo! but also has siblings who fell into the influence of the gang life. In our two-week summer program, Hue shared what this experience has been life for him and how profoundly it has affected his drive to excel academically. Although he recognizes that the siblings that are in school struggle financially, investing in an education is far safer than the tisk of street life. Hue opened up about these experiences in our two-week summer program, and listening to how he has processed his upbringing and channeled those growing pains was not only refreshing to me, but to his peers as well. For a student his age he possesses traits that are far beyond his years, he has an appreciation for the life that he has and is focused on the bright future that he sees for himself. He is one of my most devoted Gateway Scholars in the sense that his participation is not just in gaining application and financial aid knowledge, he seeks to be prepared for the world and the transition to being a self-reliant individual. 1am immensely proud of the work Hue has done and the mature, kind, young leader that he is becoming. I have no doubt he will thrive at his campus and will utilize all scholarship dollars. If you have any questions regarding Hue, please feel free to contact me at any time at (559) 241-7476 or at pzarco@uemerced.edu Regards, D\ AWA AW \\ Patricia Zarco | Gateway Scholars UC Merced Center for Educational Partnerships | Merced High School