English as a Second Language Department Awards
Achievement Awards
2022 Award Recipients
Luisa Garcia
I had the opportunity to take ESL classes at Fullerton college with different professors who helped me to improve my writing skills and they also guided me through academic challenges. Thanks to my professor Corinne Garcia who really took a big part of her time to give us all the resources to learn and improve our skills. Thank you so much to the Humanities Division for this award since this is a very significant award for me and it inspires me to continue with my classes.
– Luisa Garcia
I am honored to present Luisa with our ESL Achievement Award. I witnessed Luisa take on challenging assignments and develop into an autonomous writer who could identify and self-correct her writing errors and provide thorough connections between our readings. As an active participant in our class discussions, she often raised her classmates’ awareness on issues regarding malnutrition, health care, and poverty. Luisa’s efforts in writing and dedication to learning make her worthy of this award.
– Professor Corinne Garcia
Mirna Bajjour
When I came to the US 6 years ago, I knew very little English. But in 2020, I decided to enroll at Fullerton College. Because of this college and all the professors here, today I can understand, speak, and write English. Thank you! This honor motivates me to continue my education even if it takes many years.
– Mirna Bajjour
Mirna Bajjour began in ESL 76/78 in Spring 2020. She persevered through the pandemic and just completed ESL 190 in person, all while juggling her responsibilities as a mom to two teenagers and supporting the family business. She is really passionate about learning, loves to express herself in writing, and helps the whole class by asking great questions. Mirna’s progress in English over the past two years has been amazing!
– Professor Ellen Rosen
Shahanas Ali
Thank you ESL Department for honoring me with this Achievement award. I’m thankful to Prof. Tiangco for recommending me. In addition, I’ve been blessed to enlighten my skill with the help of amazing professors. I also thank the Writing Center for providing such incredible assistance. Above all, my sincere gratitude goes to Prof. Tiangco, Prof. Hui , Prof. Gaitatjis, and Ms. Kaitlyn for their wonderful support.
– Shahanas Ali
Shahanas has been an excellent student in my ESL 190 class. She displays an unyielding work ethic and eagerness to strengthen her writing skills. She frequently attends Hornets Tutor sessions and the Writing Center to improve her knowledge of the English language. Shahanas routinely stayed after our Zoom class to ask how she could improve her written assignments. It was great having Shahanas in class, and I look forward to seeing her excel in her studies at Fullerton College.
– Professor Arthur Hui
Thi Nguyen
I am very surprised that I have an achievement award, and I am so happy. First, I would like to thank Professor Tiangco and our tutor Ms. Macias-Reza, who have helped me improve my writing skills. During the pandemic, I could not believe that my Professor had such rich and interesting teaching ideas and topics. In my opinion, teaching and learning on Zoom is boring and not easy, but he gave us good lectures and motivated me to come to class every day. My tutor helped me a lot in editing and organizing my writing. Second, I thank the Humanities Department for giving me such a great honor. Finally, I thank my parents and my husband who have always been there helping and encouraging me in my studies.
– Thi Nguyen
I was lucky that Thi returned to FC after taking a brief break and took my ESL 82 Zoom class in Fall 2021. I could always depend on her to get the conversation going in my early morning class, and she often encouraged her classmates to speak and engage on Zoom. Even with her busy personal and professional schedule, Thi always completed her work, attended many of the optional tutoring sessions, and showed great improvement in her language skills.
– Professor Jefferson Tiangco
ESL Research Writing Achievement Award
2022 Award Recipient
Kyungwha Rhia Kang
“Dream Again”—these words came to mind when I noticed the news of this award. Being social is difficult and scary for me, who has been at home doing household chores for a long time. ESL classes at Fullerton College were the first step to a second start after I had finished my duty for the family. This award will be a great encouragement for my new beginning. Thank you to the professors and the college. As an immigrant living in California, I hope that I can do a small part in making it beautiful so that people don’t consider “Leaving California.”
– Kyungwha Rhia Kang
Rhia’s ESL 190 research paper, “Leaving California,” investigates the push and pull factors influencing residents of California to move to other states. The ESL Awards Committee was very impressed with her work synthesizing and integrating 13 sources seamlessly in her research paper on a contemporary issue of migration. Beyond her research and her overall exemplary work in our Zoom class, Rhia has also achieved success in her work as a visual artist. Her artwork was recently featured in the FC Art Gallery’s student exhibition this spring 2022 semester.
– Professor Jefferson Tiangco