Jun Shi

Mt. San Antonio College, School of Continuing Education

Nominated in 2022

Jun Shi originally immigrated to the US from China in 2018 and started attending ESL courses at Mt. San Antonio College the same year. Jun completed the ESL Program in 2019, and she joined the VESL (Vocational ESL) Career Paths Program in 2020. While she was a VESL student, she received the VESL Recognition Award for outstanding students, and she was also chosen as one of three ESL Scholarship recipients that same year. In the fall of 2020, Jun started taking credit classes as a psychology major.

Jun recently began her first job in the US as a student worker in Mt. San Antonio's ESL Department. Jun credits the English and computer skills she acquired in the ESL and VESL Programs with helping her get this job. Besides working, Jun has been very involved in academic life. She joined the Honors Program, Arise program, LEAD program, EAGLE club, Culture Shock Club, UC Berkeley Starting Point Mentorship Program, UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships, Activities Committee, Strong Workforce Advisory Committee, and the Mascot and Moniker Task Force Committee. She also served as Vice President for the Mountie Transfer Club and as an Activities Senator for Associated Students at Mt. SAC.

While Jun was a VESL student, she took the initiative to help her fellow classmates and, as one of her professors stated, "Her classmates truly enjoyed working with her on a variety of class projects, and they shared with me their appreciation of her pleasant, encouraging attitude." Jun has taken the initiative to promote the ESL Program and guide potential ESL students through the registration process through WeChat and Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese social shopping platform.

One of Jun's biggest challenges was to start college and find a job due to the language barrier and her lack of a High School Diploma. To this respect, Jun said that the skills she acquired as a student and the experience she is getting as an ESL employee would help her find a better job in the future. Jun will graduate from Mt. SAC in June 2022. She plans to continue working in the ESL Department at Mt. SAC and transfer to a four-year university in the fall of 2022.