EAOP Alumni Profiles
EAOP targets low-income students attending some of the state's most challenged schools and puts them on track to a college education. EAOP empowers students to envision themselves succeeding in college and guides families with no history of college-going in navigating college options and the complex application process.
EAOP graduates attend all the UC campuses, including UCLA and UC Berkeley. Two of the top private school destinations are USC and Stanford.
EAOP alumni succeed in fields including engineering, politics, law, science, education, medicine, architecture, and business.
To read more about a student's EAOP experience, select a photo below.
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| Are you an EAOP alumnus interested in being profiled here? If so, please send an email message with your name and contact information to eaop@ucop.edu. | ||||||
Jonli Tunstall
Graduating Class
UC Los Angeles, Class of 2005
Majors in Psychology and Education
High School
Palisades Charter High School, Class of 2001
Current Position
VIP Scholars Coordinator
UC Los Angeles
Jonli Tunstall faced financial obstacles getting to college. But the biggest obstacle was believing that she had earned the right to be at a school like UCLA-that she belonged there and would excel there. "I attended a really good high school but college information was not equally distributed so I depended on EAOP. I am thankful for EAOP for filling in the gap where my high school fell short to provide college information to all its students."
Jonli participated in several EAOP programs, Saturday Academies, Summer Boot camps, and after-school sessions once a week for three years. These activities "exposed me to a college environment, challenged me academically and socially to prepare me for college, and provided me with undergraduate fellows and resources that aided in my transition to college and beyond." Through her participation in EAOP, Jonli learned about A-G requirements, the importance of taking a challenging course load, and being involved in extracurricular activities. "EAOP provided me with the information necessary to excel in high school in order to get to college."
EAOP also helped Jonli get into college by providing critical insight into her college application during her senior year. Jonli remembers the somewhat painful experience of having her EAOP advisor "tear my personal statement to shreds. In retrospect, I know that the paper I originally wrote included all the wrong things. So if it had not been for him tearing my statement apart, giving me ideas, and encouraging me, I don't think that I would have gotten in on the presentation of my application alone."
During her college years at UCLA, Jonli worked as Bruin Advisor at various high schools. "This provided me with the opportunity to help other students get to college through the same program that helped me." In her current position as VIP Scholars Coordinator at UCLA, she is continuing that work. The VIP Scholars program works to bring more underrepresented students to UCLA. Jonli's advice to current students: "Take advantage of programs like EAOP that provide you with resources and experiences to aid you on your road to higher education."