Upward Bound and Fulfilling His Family’s Dream

Jason Ho’s parents moved the family from Taiwan to America in 1989 to ensure the children would get a good education.

But for Ho, that was not enough: He wanted a bigger edge.

Ho, 18, who just graduated from Rio Mesa High School in Camarillo, said he will enter UC Berkeley this fall with a level of confidence some of his freshman peers may not have.

“I’ve learned more so I can have an edge over everybody else,” he said.

His advanced education came from Cal Lutheran University’s Upward Bound program, a federally funded, tuition-free summer school for low-income students. Teenagers apply for the program, which specifically targets those who would be part of the first generation in their families to attend college.

Ho is one of 105 students in grades 9 and up who are taking part in this summer’s session. It is his fourth year in the program.

“Our programs are well thought out programs,” said Joy Brittain, director of the Math-Science Upward Bound program. “The students know they can get the support they need to not only enter college but to be successful in college.”

Studies show that black and Latino students have about an 8% chance of succeeding in college if their parents did not earn a four-year college degree, she said.

White students with similar backgrounds have about a 30% chance for success, Brittain added.

She did not have statistics for Asians but said the success rate for them is also not very high.

Ho sees himself as a minority in that area. College was nothing more than a pipe dream for his parents.

In Taiwan, his father worked long hours as a rice wholesaler. His mother was a homemaker.

Today, their lives are not much different in that respect: They both work 10-hour days growing guava on a small parcel of Camarillo land they own. They lease a house nearby.

Their joy comes in knowing that Jason, his brother and two sisters will have opportunities that life never afforded them.

“My parents said they are real proud of me going to a prestigious college,” Ho said. “They care about my education. I’m fortunate.”

Ho is enrolled in Brittain’s program, which focuses on math and science but also offers English. It runs June 28 to Aug. 9 and includes 50 students from all over the Southwest, including Hawaii and the Pacific islands.

The Classic Upward Bound program, headed by Oscar Cobian, has a more diverse course offering: math, science, English, art history, research methods and Spanish culture and literature. The course runs July 6 to Aug. 9 and is offered to 55 students living only in Ventura County.

“Every year they offered different courses in science,” said Ho, who earned mostly A’s in high school. “It gave me insight into what each science area is about. Before that I only knew a little bit.”

He plans to major in bioengineering at Berkeley.

The students also receive support services in seeking financial aid and applying to college. Brittain said this is a vital portion of the summer schedule because parents who never went to college often are unaware of application deadlines. As a result, she said, their children miss opportunities.

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About 65 students are on a waiting list to get into both programs, which accept highly motivated students even if they do not have outstanding report cards, Brittain said.

Students live on campus during the summer session and take classes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in addition to the study sessions.

“It’s a residential college program,” Brittain said. “That’s to help them understand what college life is like.”

Those who live in Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties continue their studies with Saturday classes during the school year.

Both programs are funded with separate grants totaling $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Brittain’s program began at Cal Lutheran in 1992, and Cobian’s started in 1980.