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I come from a low-income family that had no interest in sending me to school. They doubted my academic abilities and believed it was far too difficult to succeed in college because of my financial situation. I have proven them wrong; most importantly, I have proven to myself that I can achieve whatever I set my mind to. Rio Hondo College has given me a great foundation as a student and as a human being. It has open doors for me and I feel optimistic about my future thanks to the education I am receiving. It has served as a starting point in my quest to achieve my dream.
I have worked hard to achieve a 3.8 transferable GPA, I know that thanks to Financial aid and thanks to scholarship fund, I will continue striving for academic excellence. The networking environment at Rio Hondo has allowed me to meet great professors and other like minded individuals who want to continue their education just like myself. They are critical resources who inspire me, and I believe in my own way, I motivate them to chase after their own dreams. We all dream, but we do not all chase after them.
I have continually sought guidance in my academic pursuit. I have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunities by attending the Summer Bridge Program at Rio Hondo College. Summer Bridge introduced me to meet new people and I learned to network with other business administration students. Later, seeing those same students in my classes for Fall and Spring semester encouraged me feel like I was never going through this education experience alone. Being a first-generation college student, I felt like I had no one to talk to when It came to college advice. Thanks to EOP & S and the First-Year Success Center, I was able to talk to counselors who understood and guided me to develop a plan. Their guidance helped me develop the confidence to continue my educational journey. Most importantly, the DSPS program has also been a pivotal part of making me the student I am today. DSPS is a program that accommodates my learning disabilities; it allows me to take extra time for tests and gives me to the space to take it in a room by myself. By taking advantage of my resources and going above and beyond to pass all my classes, I am proud to say I have been given deans honors two semesters while at Rio Hondo.
I struggled as a first-year student because I was homeless which made me feel like I didn’t belong in college. I was homeless with my family for a long time and was moving from hotel to hotel and often we found ourselves sleeping in our cars. But we lived through it and continue the necessary fight. It was a difficult struggle, but we are all in a better place. While it is hard for me due to my family’s low income, which is barely enough to pay for the rent, I have done what I can to continue with my education. My poverty has not broken me; I am stronger because of it. Thanks to Rio Hondo’s strong educational foundation and amazing community I have been accepted to USC for Fall semester 2020.
Start Rio, go anywhere!!!
I am currently a tax accountant at HCVT working with variety of domestic and international business entities. My academic journey started at Rio Hondo College in 2013, obtained my B.S. in Business Administration – Accounting at Cal Poly Pomona in 2017, and obtained my M.A. in Professional Accountancy at UC Irvine in 2019. I am fortunate to have been a part of accounting program at Rio Hondo College. It enabled me to have an enjoyable college experiences and a strong foundation in business and accounting. It has always been absolutely an amazing experience from the professors that I have met, friends and classmates that I have made, and supportive staffs and academic counselors that I have reached out for help. I could not have asked for a better experience here at Rio Hondo College.
Rio Hondo College changed my life for the better. My time at Rio Hondo began in the fall of 2018, right after I had finished one year at CSULA. I decided to transfer to Rio Hondo after speaking to a mentor who informed me about the community college route and how, if done right, can be a second opportunity for students to receive admission to their dream schools.
I embarked on this journey and made so many great memories while meeting amazing people within the student body and faculty. I will forever cherish the time that I was able to spend as a student worker in the Business Division, Student Life & Leadership Department, and as a senator for Associated Students of Rio Hondo College. I was very fortunate to meet my best friends here at Rio Hondo who pushed and motivated me to strive for more.
I am very excited to announce that I will be attending UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business this upcoming fall of 2020. This would not be possible without the help revived at Rio Hondo College. Never lose sight of your goals and make sure you always move forward no matter what. This is something that was instilled in me by Professor Miller in the mathematics department and our Dean of Business, Gita Runkle.
Anything is possible. Dream on.
My name is Samantha Rajsavong and I am currently a 4th year Accounting student at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona or CPP). I graduated from Rio Hondo College (RHC) in Spring 2019 with an Associate in Science in Business Administration for Transfer Degree prior to transferring to Cal Poly Pomona. My experience at Rio Hondo College was such a pivotal moment in my life, and I am the successful woman I am today because of the education I received at RHC.
The support I received from my professors and counselors helped build a solid foundation for my education. The professors at Rio Hondo College truly care about their students and leave a lasting impression on all of us. I always speak highly of all my professors and have such good memories of being in their classes – such as, the beginning of my love for accounting having taken classes with Professor Liu, checking earthquake updates in California at the beginning of each class with Professor Forrest, listening to the million personal stories relating to business law with Professor Blackmun, writing down all inspirational quotes from Professor Hernandez, and feeling sick after in class speeches for public speaking with Professor Tovmasian.
Furthermore, I had great academic counselors, including Diego Silva, Kristina Sanchez, Julie Tieu, Anacany Torres, and Laura Verdugo who guided me in my path as a student at Rio Hondo College to applying to a four-year university. They always created a safe space for me to ask questions about my personal and professional growth, made sure I had the tools and resources I needed to be successful for all my classes, and walked me through the application process of furthering my education. So, I am forever grateful for all my professors and counselors for the support and encouragement they gave me to be successful post-RHC.
Today, I am excited to soon be graduating from Cal Poly Pomona in May 2021. The foundation that I built at Rio Hondo College helped me flourish into a well-rounded outstanding academic student at CPP. I am proud to say that I am the Vice President of Cal Poly Society of Accountants and a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the National Society of Leadership and Success, and Beta Gamma Sigma. I continue to be a distinguished student with a strong GPA on the Dean’s and President’s List. I was awarded the College of Business Administration and CalCPA Inland Empire scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year. I was able to secure a full-time offer as a Tax Accountant at a mid-size firm post-graduation. Lastly, I was recently made aware that I will be CPP’s 2021 Accounting Student of the Year and will be recognized for this prestigious award at my commencement ceremony. It is so humbling to be chosen for this award amongst so many top accounting students at CPP.
I will always hold my experience at Rio Hondo College near and dear to my heart. Thank you to all the faculty, staff, and counselors who played a role in my educational journey, and a special thank you to Professor Jeannie Liu for planting an accounting seed inside of me that has grown so much since being in her class. Rio Hondo College is truly a Harvard on the hill.