Richard Soong is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Data Science and Political Science at UC Berkeley. He is the Director of the Berkeley United in Literacy Development (BUILD). In this interview, Richard discusses his transition going into college from high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the poor educational infrastructure and resources that he observed for youths during his involvement with BUILD.

Read the full transcript.

Keywords: educational gaps, literacy gaps, San Francisco, Chinese American, Berkeley United in Literacy Development

Index

00:00:02 Description of Identity

00:00:56 Core Communities in San Francisco

00:02:06 Family and Culture Dynamic

00:05:24 Involvement in Berkeley United In Literacy Development (BUILD)

00:08:30 Cancellation on high school rally and graduation

00:13:28 Family and independence

00:17:15 Discrimination on Asian Americans

00:19:47 Accepting heritage

00:22:22 COVID’s effect on educational discrepancies

00:25:49 Transitioning back to in-person mentoring with BUILD

00:30:36 Importance of creating educational resources for young students

00:34:42 Unequal school sites

00:38:24 Preserving culture and achieving equal educational opportunity