Aaron Leialoha

The two people who impacted my life the most are my grandmother and my mentor, Ms. Torrez. My grandmother never finished elementary school, yet she taught me a lot about life and helped me become a better person. She raised me since I was a kid and, though I didn’t have the support of my family, I had her unwavering support even when she did not understand the meaning of my educational path.

Ms. Torrez taught me to believe in myself and to unlock the potential I didn’t know I had. She motivated me to do better at school and receive my first A in high school, in a foreign country and language. Both my grandmother and Ms. Torrez molded me into a confident, self-reliable and ready-for-life individual with laser-focus on my educational path.

My ultimate goal is to become an English/ESL professor at a community college. As a second language learner, I realized that there isn’t a system in place that encourages foreign students to succeed at school. I remember many teachers dismissing me and my plans to transfer simply for not having a solid command of the language. Still, I successfully graduated from UCLA, and am now completing my master’s at USC. In the future, I want to teach lower English courses and ESL because I understand what ESL students need to successfully grasp the language, and empower them as I have been empowered.

UCLA was the first college I ever visited when my mentor took me to visit this campus. I instantly fell in love with the school. As a dropout student, I never entertained the idea of college at all. I still remember Ms. Torrez’ tone when she told me “You will be here one day.” I failed most of my elementary classes, so hearing that from someone I admired was amazing. UCLA was a challenging institution, but I made many meaningful friendships and was part of incredible programs, clubs and organizations. Most importantly, it was exactly what I needed to prove to myself and everyone else that dreams are defined not but their difficulty, but by how badly you want them.

Aaron Leialoha
Masters of Science Candidate at University of Southern California
English & Gender Studies, Class of 2018