Thirty-two thousand dollars. Senior Linh Pho was Abraham Lincoln High School’s winner of the Berkeley Incentive Award, a $32,000 scholarship provided by the prestigious University of California, Berkeley. The Incentive Award aims to support students from low-income families who have demonstrated leadership potential, maintained high academic standards, and are committed to serving others. Winning this scholarship hadn’t just come by chance – Pho had journeyed on a long, hard road to get where he is today.

Pho was born in Vietnam and came to America when he was just six months old. With Vietnamese as his primary language, it was difficult for Pho to learn English in school. Vietnamese was also his parents’ primary language, which made it even more difficult for Pho to adapt.

“I really wanted to try hard in school so [my parents] could be happy,” Pho said.

Pho has had a rigorous load of academic courses and extracurricular activities under his belt throughout high school, which was a challenge for him. It was especially hard to juggle all of his activities and have time for all of them – plus keeping his grades up. Pho is a part of ALHS’ Dragon Boat team and also volunteers at a tutoring program called Help-U-Learn at a local church. He plans to become a pharmacist or a pediatrician because he enjoys working with children.

Pho was one of the top five to be chosen for the award among a vast pool of applicants at Lincoln High. The top five had to go through many interviews and had to complete their University of California application half a month before the actual deadline. They also had to write seven essays about financial need, their lifestyle, and their future dreams.

Berkeley sent out their admissions notices to applicants on March 29th. Pho, an active member in this year’s Brotherhood/Sisterhood Assembly (participating in the Mandarin Club, the Vietnamese Club, and the Hip-Hop Club), was so caught up with the performance that he did not get a chance to check his admission status for Berkeley.

“I didn’t really know what was happening. I thought I didn’t have a chance for Berkeley, for the scholarship, but I found out on Saturday when [my counselor] Ms. Connie Chan called me,” Pho said.

Nowadays it is very rare for money to fall out of the sky to provide for certain expenses, especially college expenses that are rising steadily every year. Scholarships are a main form of payment for the ever-increasing college tuition. Many applicants must endure a grueling application process, which includes tedious essays, nerve-racking interviews and heartfelt recommendation letters from close teachers or mentors. Although the process of applying for a scholarship may be long and hard, students should seize the opportunity to win this money.

“Always keep trying, never give up, and don’t procrastinate! Be yourself. Put your heart and soul into reaching your goals and in the end everything will work out fine if you put your mind to it,” Pho said.