Hi, I’m Esme, and I’m a 1st generation, low-income, 2nd year transfer student. During my time at Cal, I aspire to use my research to raise awareness of underrepresented youth who’ve been negatively impacted by the child welfare system and make sure that everyone has the chance to dream, no matter where they are in life. Following graduation, I want to get a PhD and utilize my work to influence legislative changes that will ensure foster and homeless students are aware of the resources available to them, bridging them to the proper support. Beside academics, I love writing, lifting, and going on hikes.
My project "Ⓘ Need a Box" is an effort to raise awareness about the barriers Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (hereafter UHY) face in accessing higher education, while proposing a simple yet impactful solution of adding a checkbox to the UC application to identify UHY.
