Pauline Ho Awarded 2017 Keith Curry Scholarship for Undergraduate Excellence

The Keith Curry Undergraduate Scholarship was established in 2016 by Dr. Curry, CEO of Compton Community College District and School of Education Alumnus. The 2017 recipient, Pauline Ho, was awarded her scholarship on May 23rd during the School of Education's Recognition Ceremony.

Text of Presentation by Jacquelynne Eccles, Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor

I am delighted to introduce the undergraduate recipient of the Keith Curry Scholarship, Pauline Ho. Pauline is a graduating senior with a double major in Education Sciences and Social Policy & Public Service. She is a first generation student who has shown true grit, excellence in her academics, and dedication to the community. Nine years ago, Pauline Ho arrived in America, having only studied English for two hours. Today, Pauline has risen to achieve a variety of academic honors, such as membership in the international honor society for education, Kappa Delta Pi, recognition as a NSF GRFP Honorable Mention, UCI's 2017 Chancellor's Award of Distinction, and leadership roles at UCI, such as serving as a School of Education Peer Mentor, and as President of the Global Leaders Student Organization. In addition to her personal accomplishments, Pauline has given back to the community with a dedication shown by few. Pauline first discovered her passion in serving others by volunteering in a senior home, teaching English to minority language speakers. Since then, she has shown tremendous passion about encouraging and supporting low-SES diverse students in pursuing post-secondary education, particularly in STEM. In addition to tutoring and coaching high school students through the college application process, she is involved in the AppJam+ program, which provides URM students in middle school with the opportunity to learn the technical skills involved in application development and programming. ​This fall Pauline will be traveling to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a PhD in Educational Psychology. Her long-term goal is to become a tenured professor conducting research and collaborating with community organizations to provide research-based services to ELL students.