The award ceremony to celebrate the achievements of students in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services program was held at De Anza College’s Hinson Campus Center on June 20.

Friends, family and staff were present during the ceremony. The staff of EOPS had spoken about the resilience and the passion the students of the program had.

The EOPS program has been running since 1969, and its priority and goal is to help students who are disadvantaged academically and financially. The program helps low-income students by offering perks such as priority registration and funding for school supplies such as textbooks, grants, meal vouchers as well as loans for computers, calculators and other sorts of resources deemed needed for success at De Anza.

This quarter, EOPS helped over 100 students successfully graduate with the in-person event having 16 students collecting awards for their hard work.

Chuong Le, a student success specialist at EOPS, said, “We know that there’s students who could qualify for our program … and we wish and hope to get more students”.

The program also provides counseling to students to help them plan the steps to a successful future, with promising results this year.

“I am proud to say that we have a lot of honor students,” Le said.

Students in the program had to deal with post-COVID challenges. Dr. Michele LeBleu-Burns, current dean of EOPS, said, “As a result of the pandemic so many of our students were put into very difficult circumstances. Students became homeless or had housing insecurities, experienced things such as food insecurity, mental health needs and just stress and anxiety”.

Alex Solorio, 21, business major, was one student who found success with the program. Solorio mentioned the resources provided by the program and how it helped him reach his goals.

“Most of the time I wouldn’t have money for textbooks so when I needed it most, EOPS was there to help me pay for my books and get through the quarter,” Solorio said.

On top of the financial aid provided, Solorio also spoke about how beneficial the academic counseling was.

“I found Chuong and he really helped me with my schedule and classes,” Solorio said. “I know he’s a good counselor and he helped me figure out the direction … it was very helpful because I wouldn’t know.”

Another student Andres Adame, 20, fire technology major, said, “This program has been instrumental to my success just to know you have someone dedicated to you and wants to see you succeed.”

The program strongly focuses on helping each student’s plan for success.

Applications for the fall 2024 quarter are from June 17 to August 30. Students are encouraged to apply as quickly as possible.

“They’ll hold your hand to figure out the plan to your future,” Solorio said.