Biography: Bryzen Enzo Morales is an undergraduate student at UCLA, pursuing three majors in Economics, Public Affairs, and Labor Studies. Before immigrating to the United States, he grew up in the Philippines, where he was exposed to social issues and social problems many Filipinos face in their daily life.  Additionally, as a son of former Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), he has always known that opportunities, through public policies, can shape life outcomes and economic mobility. His lived experiences have motivated him to be committed in pursuing extracurricular activities and projects that contributes to the greater social good. 

On campus, he is currently an undergraduate student researcher at the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK), a research center that specializes in empirical spatial analysis to inform timely, relevant, and action-oriented policy research on neighborhoods, low-income and minority communities, and immigrant enclaves. He was also an undergraduate community-engaged scholar, who collaborated in a community-engaged research project with the LA Garment Workers Center (GWC), to assess the feasibility of a high-road garment industry here in LA, by performing a product-market fit research for a staffing cooperative at GWC. Additionally, he was also an undergraduate research assistant for the Digital Equity and Anti-Oppression Lab, a research lab focusing on social determinants of mental health among minority communities. 

 

Future Plans: After graduation, he hopes to expand his research skills by applying to various public policy related pre-doctoral fellowship programs many universities offer across the US. In the future, he hopes to pursue a PhD in Public Policy and/or Public Administration, focusing on social policy and social intervention, related to poverty and inequality, mobility, income support programs, and social safety net, among marginalized communities. Ultimately, he hopes to become a research professor, who will not just teach and produce research, but a professor that will advocate and translate to the public, in a national and international context, for a greater social impact. Ultimately, he hopes to use his PhD training to inform evidence-based policy, that addresses social problems and social challenges the world faces.

 

What this scholarship means to me: I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Wark family as a scholarship recipient for this year. This scholarship truly alleviated my worry of covering my school expenses for this academic year. Nevertheless, this scholarship opportunity truly allowed me to focus on my academics, research, and community-engagement endeavors, for my final year here in UCLA. This scholarship also means a lot to me as it signifies the Wark family’s confidence and trust in my ability to make a meaningful impact on the world. This scholarship is for my family, my friends, and my community who has shaped me the way I see the world. Padayon! (English Translation: Carry on!).