Fan Fan Mentors Local Youth
New Trojan Fan Fan, who created a community-tutoring program at her Alpharetta, Ga., high school, looks forward to serving the neighborhoods of USC.
"Community involvement is a core value at USC," said Fan, a Thematic Option freshman majoring in comparative literature. "Since we're located in South Los Angeles, there are so many programs to help the surrounding area."
Community service is something Fan knows a lot about. She traces the genesis of her award-winning organization 121Reach to her time as a high school counselor for an inner-city Atlanta YMCA camp. One day, after leading her group in a treasure hunt, she was distressed to find a stray bullet among the kids' treasures.
"That's when I realized: these kids have so much potential and positive energy, but they are trapped in the wrong environment," Fan said. "The only way out is for them to get a better education. I knew I couldn't start in the inner cities right away, so I decided to start in my own community."
When she returned to school that fall, she developed a program that matched fellow high school students with local middle school students for twice-a-week tutorial sessions.
Fan built a team of dedicated tutors and leaders for 121Reach, and by the time she graduated, through parent feedback and word of mouth, other schools in her area were requesting assistance. Further support came from a $5,000 grant awarded to the program by Youth Venture, an organization that provides resources to young community-minded entrepreneurs and activists.
"Being part of Youth Venture really helped lift the boundaries I had about what youth can do," Fan said. "It made me feel like I could do so much more to make the world a better place."
Here at USC, Fan said she plans to take advantage of JEP and similar community service programs, part of the reason she chose this university.
She's not finished with 121Reach, either. She and her leadership team are currently attending colleges across the country where they hope to plant seeds for the program in their new communities.
"I'm trying to spread 121Reach across the United States, engaging students in positive change and social activism," Fan said. "Hopefully we will be able to reach those inner-city kids one day."