Brittany Tran

“My greatest academic achievement has been being admitted to UC San Diego. The journey was long, because I was a high school dropout.”

Looking over Brittany’s resume of high grades, community volunteerism, school organizations and self- sufficiency, you’d assume she was a typical student who excelled in community college before transferring to a four-year university. But look closer and you’ll see it took 10 years, and overcoming a hard childhood.

“My biological parents were unable to care for me and I was institutionalized,” she says. “In foster care and juvenile rehabilitation, I saw a lot of young violent criminals, 16-year-old committed gangsters, 12- year-old drug addicts, and 10-year-old prostitutes. It would have been easy for me to fall into their vices, to fall into a woe-is-me victimhood.”

But instead she climbed up, chased by the fear of being like most of her foster mates who are now in jail or dead. “These children from my past inspire me to continue to push, so I don’t fall like they have. Against odds, I’ve made it this far, in a top-rated university with an apartment, a smart, healthy, happy five-year-old, and ambition that still surprises me.”

Brittany points to her angels. “I admired how several counselors and case workers understood my feelings without my having to say much. I was an emotional disaster and their support was crucial to my success as an adult.” These people are her models. “I didn’t actually know what sociology was until age 25, a freshman blindly fulfilling general education requirements in community college. In Sociology 101, I learned about family dynamics, coming of age, and violations of social norms:me. I finally understood my troubled childhood from an academic prospective, which brought me closure.”

Her volunteer work is also an inspiration. She works with a group that helps veterans adjust to civilian life, and another that helps migrants adjust to their new country. "I get to apply sociological concepts in understanding alienation and PTSD. I’d like to use my sociology degree to help adults integrate into life after disruptions, such as military-to-civilian life, inmates returning to society, or integration for immigrants.” Brittany knows she’d like to work in the justice system, and is exploring law enforcement, innocence projects, legislation, immigration and other avenues.

She most desires to be the best parent to her son, and she’s grateful for the scholarship support and stability that enable her to spend more time with him.