ABSTRACT
UCLA gave me life twice. I was born at the medical center to somewhat unfortunate circumstances, which will become more apparent to the reader as I tell the story of my miseducation. However, this story is more about what it took to be given a second chance at life twenty-two years later as a transfer student in UCLA’s Academic Advancement Program (AAP). In 1986, I arrived at the Hershey Hall dorm to take part in UCLA’s Transfer Summer Program (TSP). As part of the Educational Opportunity Programs designed to recruit and retain low income and minority students, AAP off ered all fi nancial aid eligible, incoming students with a free summer residential academic program. We would live together on two fl oors in the dorms, take an integrated writing and content course, have tutors assigned to us for each class, and attend evening fi lms and forums. And all of this would happen in the context of off ering students a critical rather than traditional education.
