2021 Scholars | SoLa I CAN

Meet our 2021 Scholars.

Our 2021 Scholars are ambitious, talented, and resilient. Each year, we select five phenomenal Scholars for the Social Impact Award, which recognizes applicants who have gone above and beyond for their community.

To read the essays from our five Social Impact Awardees, hover over any of their photos below.

Growing up as an African American male, I have faced many challenges while striving to become a first-generation college student. It is common for people from disadvantaged communities like mine...

I was born in an environment that had boundaries and expectations that felt like limits to my future and my dreams. My community was gasping for air, for life...

California is where it happens. It’s where movie stars are born and where trends are made. The state of easy money in the land of opportunity! At least, that’s what my cousins in Guatemala and El Salvador like to believe...

Kamarie Brown

Abraham Flores

University of Southern California

Spleman College

University of Southern California

Growing up in South Los Angeles’s low-income communities, my family has been the victim of burglary and auto theft. Gunshots resonating through our neighborhood was not an uncommon event...

My parents immigrated to the United States to escape the war-torn country of El Salvador and to chase the elusive American dream. Despite the struggles I endured, they shaped me into who I am today...