The Fundraising Page of Anna "Paper Wings" Le

Hi, I'm Anna! :) I'm a third-year civil engineering student at UCLA from Riverside, California. This year, I'm participating in UCLA's official student charity, Unicamp. "What's Unicamp?!?!" :O Unicamp is a program that allows students age 10-17 from under-privileged parts of LA to experience something their families might otherwise be unable to afford... SUMMER CAMP! :D Summer camp programs generally cost $600+, but Unicamp is able to drop that price down to $99 by getting generous donations from the community. At camp, the kids spend a whole week learning about subjects like college readiness, sustainability, mental health, anti-bullying, and more! My session is focused on anti-bullying. "So what does Unicamp mean to you, Anna?!?" Even though I'm lucky enough to be in my third year of civil engineering at UCLA, on track to graduate in a year, I have stumbled A LOT through my education, and part of that was because being a first-generation college student, I didn't have a whole lot of educational mentorship at home. My parents are the absolute best, and they did everything they could to give me every opportunity in the world, but since they grew up in Vietnam and had never experienced the education system in America, they did not always have the experience and knowledge to guide me through school. From my experience, a lot of the time, teachers and the education system in America as a whole just expect that there is someone at home paying attention to the child's education and helping out as needed or even stepping in and doing most of the work for the bigger projects. They forget that a lot of students have parents who work all the time, or didn't go to school, or don't speak English, and when it comes to school, those kids are essentially on their own. I remember being a seven-year-old trying to conduct my own science experiment and organize it onto a display all by myself, and I remember feeling like I was not good enough when my pile of garbage made with cardboard and crayons was put next to other students' expertly crafted display boards. As school got harder, I only felt more unprepared. Spoiler alert, terrible science fair projects aside, I did end up making it to UCLA. :) But along the way, I have realized that the road would have been a lot smoother if I'd had more access to educational opportunities and mentorship from those who had been through it all before. I hope that through Unicamp, I can provide those opportunities and be that mentorship for young students who are going through it right now! "How can I help?!" Omg, I'm glad you asked! :D You can help by donating to my Unicamp fund. My fundraising goal by the end of Spring quarter (June 10) is $480. Every dollar goes to sending a kid to summer camp. Yay! Please donate!