June 7, 2007

MADE IT
Success despite the system
Simon Oh to attend Cal State Fullerton on afull ride after years of foster home living.
By ADAM TOWNSEND STAFF WRITER

After El Dorado High School Senior Simon Oh finally told Los Angeles police in 2002 about years of physical and emotional abuse at home, he spent the next five years shuffling around foster homes in LA and Orange counties.

Despite his hardship, Simon had a stroke of luck many kids in his situation don’t have. His middle school teacher happened to be a foster caregiver, allowing Oh to continue his education uninterrupted.

And though he stayed in a half dozen foster and group homes all over LA – some of them cold and austere – Oh now is set to graduate from El Dorado High School with good grades and a full-ride scholarship to Cal State Fullerton.

Oh plans to use his scholarship to study the technical side of television news broadcasting.

During his sophomore year in 2005, authorities settled Oh in the Orange County Children’s Foundation group home in Placentia.

“It took me several months to get fully adjusted to my settings,” he said. “Since then I’ve made some remarkable accomplishments; because of the way they run the group home, I’ve been able to get involved in school activities and hang out with friends.”

Indeed, school officials say students who have to live in foster care often struggle socially and with school work, but Oh has had the opportunity to participate in student academic organizations, the school newspaper and student government.

“With two of my friends, they were able to help me get elected as (Associated Student Body) secretary. It was a surprising victory because I was a newcomer to the school.”

For his senior project this year, Oh worked for the KOCE public television station in Huntington Beach to help further his broadcasting aspirations. He said that after he graduates, he plans to work his way up through the ranks, stating as a technician with a local station.

“Hopefully, I’ll start off at a television station – hopefully here in California – and then I want to work my way up to a network or larger firm.”

In the meantime, Oh is scheduled to move out of the Orange county Children’s Foundation and onto Cal state Fullerton’s campus June 24.

“I’m excited for the most part,” Oh said on going off to college. “In terms of budget, I’m just trying to make sure I have enough money in my bank account.”