- UCR takes a step at creating future generations
of researchers that are one day going to help
and impact this world.
- UCR, to me, means being able to pursue a dream.
- Being a first generation student especially,
I really tried to find a place that felt like home.
- I came to UCR because I really wanted to be part
of a community that was very friendly, very open,
and really focused on research.
- I really wanted to go to a school
where they had a lot of opportunities here,
and UCR, I felt like, had that for me.
(gentle music)
- I saw that UCR was making a lot of changes
in their campus.
Whether it be investing millions and millions of dollars
in the multidisciplinary research building,
which is exactly where my lab is,
or research across campus,
I saw that many labs were getting enormous grants
to fund their research.
So it was a combination
of all these different things that led me to UCR.
- All the research here
and the opportunity that I saw for myself was really great.
And just the potential for upward projection
in my academics, as well as career-wise,
I saw as being really good at UCR,
and that has definitely proven to be true
over the years that I've been here.
- UCR gives students a chance
to improve their life
and improve the lives of people in their community.
- I didn't ever think that I would come back to school,
to be quite honest with you.
So the fact that I'm able to be on campus
and walk around these halls,
and learn from some top-notch professors,
it's really eye-opening.
And, you know, to really push myself
to see what I can do has been a phenomenal experience.
And so UC Riverside
has just been a fantastic university to me.
- I really, really valued the diversity
that was found here at UC Riverside.
And I saw that the amazing faculty here
could really, really support me,
and it had lots of opportunities for me to develop.
And I never knew
how transformative this experience was gonna be.
- It's not enough to just simply have a college education.
It's what you do with it.
And given that there's so many people like me
who have had parents come
from so many places around the world,
I'm very thankful that I've had the chance
to pay back my parents' investment into college,
and I'm very thankful for a supportive environment
that recognizes their belief in having a higher education.
- Every single person that I have met
at UCR has been not only kind and welcoming for me,
but they've also been encouraging
and ensuring that I can succeed and graduate on time.
- What's so special to me about UCR
is all of the support.
Everywhere on campus,
there's support in faculty,
in the departments,
in the hub that support students,
the grad students on campus.
So without that support,
I think I would've not felt as at home as I do.
- As a woman in STEM,
the mentorship that I've received
from a lot of my female faculty mentors
has really encouraged me
and helped increase my self confidence
in pursuing a degree in STEM as well.
- As a first generation student,
these are the kind of things that are tremendously helpful
for those of us who may not have anybody
who have gone before us to sort of, you know,
set the foundation and give us that sort of advice.
- UCR, it means people who are willing
to support me on my journey.
- Knowing that there are donors supporting students like me
is a really great feeling.
- I can't tell you guys how thankful I am
for those types of people.
Really means a lot for people like me.
- I am very grateful for the donors
who've so generously put their funds
towards something conducive
to societal growth
at the university level.
- The scholarships that I got
at UCR have been able to support me
by allowing me to focus on the work
that pertains to my future career goals.
- I have been able to receive scholarships
and pay for my university,
and graduate without student debt.
- From the bottom of my heart,
I want to thank the donors and alumni,
who have been the lifeblood
for things like the Chancellor's Research Fellowship
and different organizations on campus.
Because truly, without them, these programs would not exist.
- I feel like it's very fruitful,
not only for the students who are doing the research,
just makes UCR stand out.
How awesome is that,
that people just donate need money to programs like this.
That's great.
- It means the world to me.
It means offering opportunities, believing in us,
and contributing to the next generation.
- It's honestly an honor and it's a true blessing.
It definitely motivates me to try my hardest in school
and making somebody's life better in the community
in the same manner that the donors
and the alumni do for students like me.
Without the scholarship support,
I don't think
I would've really considered a college education,
so I'm very thankful for all the alumni and donors.
- I think it's amazing
because it's really given me the opportunity
to understand what I want from life,
and given me opportunities
that I never thought I would have access to before.
And it's really shaped this passion
in me for research as well.
- By being supported and being backed
by alumni and donors,
it's a form of support.
It's a form of morale.
It's a form of saying,
"Hey, your research is worth something,
and your research will impact the world in some way."
- For them to contribute to investing into their community
by doing such work and being so generous,
I think it's just extraordinary.
And for those of us who get the opportunity
to be a part of this journey and this work,
you know, I don't think we can say thank you enough.
- I never thought I was gonna be anything.
And so coming here to UCR
and seeing how interested people are
in the things that I have to say, just really beautiful.
It's something that's awesome about UCR.
- UCR is very focused on the students.
And if you work hard
and you really do wanna get something done,
there are plenty of resources
and people available
to help you reach the goals that you have,
which I feel like is really unique here at UCR.
- UCR allowed me to go beyond what's possible
because they showed me
that higher education is available to people like myself.
That has been an empowering opportunity,
to be able to see individuals not only as professors
but peers as well,
being in this space and having these discussions,
and ensuring that we as students can go and move on,
and have our own careers,
and move up on our socioeconomic statuses.
So seeing that,
and being involved on campus and seeing what it looks like
for myself and others has been a huge influence
through UCR that is unlike any other campus.
- The support, the network, the alumni, the programs,
it all makes you feel as if you're in one big family.
I think that's the greatest thing that you can get
from a college education.
(bell tolling)