Story Threads

Our Intern, Brandon Lo Moving onto greater things!

By Brandon Lo, 2023 Graduate of Merlo Institute & former intern for APA Living Today

We would like to bid a fond farewell and good luck to our intern, Brandon Lo! A 2023 graduate from The Merlo Institute, he will be attending the University of the Pacific in the Fall of 2023, where he will continue his studies in Computer Engineering. You will be sorely missed Brandon! Thank you! We thought it might be a little fun if we let Brandon tell you his story...

Brandon Lo

Education is a huge part of my life. My parents weren’t the stereotypical Asian parents they were. I lived an educational life where my parents weren’t so strict on me studying for school every single second of the day of my life. They let me be free on things besides school. I was able to go out with friends and hang out with them while also being a great scholar. But overall, my pre-teen life in education was not as suffocating as other Asian scholars had with their parents and life experiences.

My K through 8th grade was a really great reflection on how I grew as a student going into my high school career. I learned how to mature as a person. Some events taught me what to avoid and what was beneficial to me. Looking back on these experiences:

Freshman year was a wild ride. It started off as a fresh student going to high school. Learning what my classes were. Just the basic routine as a freshman would experience. Spring of March comes around and guess what… COVID hits. All the schools were forced to stay home because of the pandemic and the continuation of school during that year was rough. Most students including me didn’t know that we had to continue class through zoom. But luckily it didn’t really affect me as a whole with my grades and education.

Sophomore year rolled around and it was a whole new experience. I had to do distance learning through zoom and the experience was not pleasant. Having to get to class on zoom was such a hassle when there are many distractions at home that affect your sleep, as well as the motivation of getting to class was also rough. But my motivation of getting good grades was still within me. I would still do all the assignments even though most of them were late, but most teachers didn’t have to dock points because many situations would have occurred. For me I was distracted with my mom being a constant nuisance which threw off my concentration, my phone because everybody needs to entertain themselves including me, and just the motivation of going to school online was always low. But I managed to pull through with all A’s and 3 B’s within 2 semesters during that pandemic year.

Junior year was definitely a year where everybody needed to get back on track, including me. My sleep schedule was terrible, which has affected me. Things that I needed to regain were my social skills. Talking to people face to face “again” was definitely an experience. I will always remember that this year was also the year I met my long lasting friends. I met him when he made an instagram account and his first post I saw was Genshin Impact. I too played that game and he introduced me to more friends that I’ve met during middle school and now we’re all brothers forever. But coming back on track, this year was also the year I got all A’s in both semesters. I truly showed myself how much potential I have and it showed following my senior year.

My final year of high school, i’ve accomplished many things that I had on my list. With COVID out of the picture now I can do anything with no set backs. Heading into my accomplishments, I’ve been accepted to one of the most well known colleges in Stockton and California, University of the Pacific as well as one of their prestigious nearly full ride scholarships, their Community Involvement Program (CIP). These acceptances will allow me to fully pursue an education that I’ve always dreamed of ever since I was young.

In my experiences, I’ve never dealt with racism or any of that matter as a young Hmong descent. I’ve heard of these common stereotypes where “I’m so smart because I’m Asian” but I don’t believe in those categorized statements. I think that if you work hard and put in that work you want to accomplish, those things will side with you. Being Asian never affected my education or my common goals. My advice that I would give to all my young Asian fellows that likes to pursue education is never give into the negatives. The only way to stay focused and desire those accomplishments you’ve set for yourself is always stay positive.