Shapiro Family Scholarship

DISABILITY STUDIES FALL SCHOLARSHIPS

THE SHAPIRO FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

Award Amount: $7,000 (one award or split into two awards)

Eligibility Criteria:
Recipients of the Disability Studies fall scholarships are selected based on (1) strong academic achievement, (2) commitment to the field of disability studies and (3) to working as an advocate on issues of importance to the disability community. To be eligible for the scholarships, students must have:

1. 1. 1. A 3.0 cumulative GPA;
      2. Admittance to the UCLA Disability Studies minor;
      3. Completed or currently enrolled in Disability Studies 101W and;
      4. Completed or currently enrolled in at least one elective course for the minor.

Application instructions:
1. In a single PDF document, include the following two items:

• An essay not to exceed 500 words (2 double-spaced pages) that describes your experience working in the disability community to date and discusses how the Disability Studies minor has influenced (or how you envision it will influence) the direction of your academic career and future plans. If applicable, please include a discussion of your internship and/or capstone research plans.
• A current resume

Save the PDF in the following format:

• LastName_FirstName_Application.pdf
• Ex: Block_Gene_Application.pdf

2. Obtain a copy of your unofficial transcript and save it in the following format:

• LastName_FirstName_Transcript.pdf
• Block_Gene_Transcript.pdf

Email both files to the Disability Studies Fall Scholarship Committee*. Your application materials will be automatically uploaded to a drive once they are received.

Confirmation email:

You will receive a confirmation email for each file when your application materials have been successfully uploaded. Important: If you do not receive a confirmation email or if you are having issues uploading your application, please send application materials to Nicole Chavez at nchavez@college.ucla.edu.

*Your application materials should be sent directly to the committee via the following email address: Fall_20.3a38p90qsg03t03u@u.box.com

Application Deadline: Monday, October 28, 2024, at 11:59pm

If selected as a scholarship recipient, your accomplishment will be announced via email to the disability studies community, including the Shapiro family, faculty, and staff. Charlotte Vo will be in touch to confirm pronouns and announcement details prior to it being shared. Please let her know if there is anything that was shared in the scholarship application that should remain confidential.

Note to Non-DS Minors: Students who are not yet admitted to the minor may submit their application to the minor at the same time as their application for the scholarship—but their scholarship application will only be reviewed AFTER admission to the minor is confirmed.

PROFILES OF 2024 STUDENT WINNERS

Thanks to the generous support of the Shapiro Charitable Family Foundation, UCLA Disability Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Fall Disability Studies Scholarships.

The Shapiro Family Scholarship  aims to celebrate the strides made by our students, who have been agents of change on this campus and beyond. The winner of the 2024 Shapiro Family Scholarship, Riley Masterson, will receive a scholarship award of $7,000. Riley rose to the top of a competitive applicant pool through the connections they drew between disability studies scholarship, their goals, and advocacy efforts. Tara Lam and Aparna Pillai are recognized with an Honorable Mention.

Riley Masterson

Riley Masterson is a fourth-year majoring in Public Affairs and Economics and minoring in Disability Studies. She is passionate about accessible and dignified healthcare, deinstitutionalization, community care, and disability justice in general. Riley was previously a research assistant for the Autism Genetics and Human Diversity Project, working toward the goal of expanding diagnoses and understanding racial disparities in access to care and services. She has also interned with the Learning Rights Law Center, offering legal aid and trainings to underserved families in Los Angeles with children navigating the “special education” system. Riley is currently a Coelho Law Fellow through Loyola Law School and intern for the LA County Public Defender’s Office. Riley intends to pursue law school and serve her communities.

Honorable Mention – Tara Lam

Tara Lam is a fourth year Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology major with a Disability Studies minor. She is a dedicated advocate for individuals with disabilities, inspired by her experiences in the Disability Studies minor and hands-on work in the community. As an intern with the Down Syndrome Association Los Angeles (DSALA), she has created resources for hospitals to support parents of children with Down syndrome. She has also taught music lessons to adults with autism and Down syndrome, encouraging self-expression through music, at the ASPIRE Creative Arts Program. She also is working with medical students, physicians, and nurses to implement a Distress Assessment Tool known as the DisDAT to help healthcare teams better recognize distress in non-verbal pediatric patients. Their work aims to expand the tool’s use and promote disability education in medical training. With plans to apply to medical school to become a physician, Tara Lam is committed to improving healthcare for people with disabilities and ensuring they receive the care they deserve.

Honorable Mention – Aparna Pillai

Aparna Pillai is a fourth year Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and Disability Studies double major. At the Hansen Disease Clinic, she established a leprosy support group for patients to openly discuss the challenges they face. Aparna also conducted focus groups with the Helen Keller National Center through a Disability Studies course to understand the healthcare experiences of DeafBlind individuals. After learning about the lack of adequate interpretation, she advocated for the use of tactile ASL on the UCLA Health interpreter form, which will be implemented across 280 locations in California. Aparna hopes to continue setting new standards for equitable patient care when she becomes a physician.

Arezo Ahmadi – 2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology

Rachel Rothschild – 2023 Major: Human Biology and Society

Adam Kipust – 2023 – Honorable Mention Major: Psychobiology

Vinita Saxena – 2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology

Desiree Eshraghi – 2022 – Honorable Mention Major: Pre-psychobiology

Cheri Sledge – 2022 – Honorable Mention Major: Musicology

Katherine Chow – 2021 Major: Human Biology and Society

Rowan O’Bryan – 2021 Major: Fine Arts

Isabella Poschl – 2021 Major: Neuroscience

Quinn O’Connor – 2020 Major: Theater

Nicole Jacobs – 2020 Major: Physiological Sciences

Juliette Lerner – 2020 Major: Psychology

Lily Shaw – 2019 Major: Political Science

Isita Tripati – 2019 Major: Neuroscience