My Nonprofit Reviews
gyu919
Review for Foundation For Students Rising Above, San Francisco, CA, USA
I was a Student Rising Above scholarship recipient from 2000-2004. My grandparents were Vietnamese refugees who escaped their war-torn homeland on April 29, 1975, the day of the Fall of Saigon. I grew up in a single-parent home and spent the early part of my childhood in a battered women's shelter. The Student Rising Above foundation gave me the courage to tell my story of resiliency and survival. As a result of the mentorship, encouragement and financial support, I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a BS in bioengineering. I am now finishing up my doctorate in public health and biostatistics at Columbia University where I am giving back to others that have given so much to me. I founded the Biostatistics Enrichment Summer Training (BEST) Diversity Program which recruits under-represented minority and first-generation college students to pursue careers in public health. We received half a million dollars in support from the federal government to continue our program for the next five summers. All of this would not have been possible had Student Rising Above not taken an investment in me and supported me with my endeavors.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
My achievement and success is a testament to the results of this organization. I successfully graduated from college and I am going to finish my doctorate in public health. I have started a million dollar summer program in public health so that I can recruit recent graduates of the Student Rising Above organization to pursue careers in public health and biostatistics.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I would not do anything except to keep in touch with my fellow Student Rising Above alumni more often. This is a great and life changing organization and invests in human beings as we try to make our communities a better, just and more equitable place.
How would you describe the help you got from this organization?
Life-changing
How likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend?
Definitely
How do you feel you were treated by this organization?
Very Well
How did you find this group?
I was nominated by my high school.
What, if any, change in your life has this group encouraged?
The group has encouraged me to pursue and to attain my dreams.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
