Meng Yang was taken into foster care at age 16 while his mother was wheelchair-bound on dialysis and his father suffered from stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
“I was just doing what your average high schooler was doing, going to parties, doing tests, homework, hanging out with friends, staying out late. It was more freedom. I had a more quiet life, a more normal life,” Yang explained.
After being diagnosed with a kidney disease, the entire course of Yang’s life was altered.
After missing three scheduled doctor’s appointments, Yang’s doctor contacted the Department of Social Services, sparking an investigation.
“Truthfully, it wasn’t a form of neglect. I wasn’t missing the appointments because I wanted to, but it was because both my parents were ill,”
“I was worried more about taking care of my parents than about my own health,” the LBCC student said.
The investigation led to Yang being placed far from his biological family in a new home in Pasadena.
Neither of his foster parents spoke English and Yang had to primarily communicate through their middle-school-aged son.
“I had a hard time communicating since they only spoke Spanish. They tried their best, but there was a lot of miscommunication and a lot of cultural differences. I felt alienated because of the language barrier.”
“I had to take a stand for myself and advocate because what they want, and what they think I need, may not be what I really want,” Yang explained.
Yang’s father passed away three months into Yang’s life in foster care. His mother was taken into hospice care and her death followed six months later on Christmas Day.
“I really don’t know who’s left to advocate for me,” Yang said.
Yang has nine siblings, but at the time most of them were living out of state.
After his 17th birthday, one of Yang’s brothers, Chee Yang, began to fight for guardianship.
It was his mother’s last wish for Meng to return to the family.
He has been living with Chee since then.
Yang’s journey with education has been turbulent.
“In high school before the foster care system, I didn’t take it seriously. There just wasn’t much of a push for education. It was more about: go into the workforce, get a job, sustain your family,” Yang said.
“Education was not a priority, so I dismissed my education a lot. When I entered into the foster care system, during my high school years, I tried to turn it around. I wasn’t with my family or my friends, in a different culture and different city. But old habits die hard, and I’d slink back to where I used to be.”
Meng completed an additional two years of high school at a charter school before receiving his high school degree. He still wasn’t particularly interested in college but credited a therapist at the time for pushing him towards higher education.
“I didn’t know what major to pursue, because there was no college foundation. No one advocating for me. I didn’t know anything about how college, the expectations, or how the community college system works. No counselors to help lead me in the right direction or path,” Yang expressed.
Yang was not made aware of the foster care resources at LBCC at the time, or any grants available to him.
“A lot of people have the assumption that foster students don’t have much of a struggle due to funding from the government. I never even got my funding, I hit the age limit. I hit 21, so I couldn’t receive [any benefits]. My social worker failed me in not informing me about that,” said the 25-year-old.
After starting at LBCC, he became interested in automotive technology. However, due to budget cuts at the time, the automotive course was temporarily removed.
Yang participated in many rallies and protests at the time, advocating for the campus to reinstate the automotive technology major.
“I just came in, joined the fever. And even after all that, I was still lost,” said Yang.
While he wasn’t entirely clear about his path yet, his interest in advocating for his fellow students was ignited.
Student Activities Advisor Derek Oriee speaks highly of Yang.
“He’s been really active and a committed member to student life, and always a person we could depend on. He’s a really big advocate for the voice of the students and it’s not uncommon to have him sit in on ASB meetings and hear him speak, and for him to attend Board of Trustee meetings. He’s sat in the PCC Cultural Affairs meetings. He’s a great person, a great advocate for the students, and really advocates for the trades,”
“Sometimes it’s hard to get students involved in the trades, involved in student government but he’s just a great person to have represent them. He’s really involved with the automotive program. Every time we have a big event he’s there. He’s there from beginning to end. He loves to be involved, and he’s taken full advantage of what we have to offer outside of class,” Oriee said.
Yang described receiving harsh judgments from other students.
“Pretty much whenever I brought up my status, in their mind, they were like ‘oh you must get all these benefits from the state government.’ I guess it’s the conclusion they came to from mainstream media and what’s been informed to them. They didn’t know how much I was struggling, and even if I was telling them, they wouldn’t understand,” Yang said.
“Even then, they would talk about my race, and get stereotypical. ‘You’re an Asian American, you’re in higher education, and you have a high placing rate in jobs, therefore you shouldn’t struggle compared to other races.’ You’d be surprised. Here at this college campus, people still have these assumptions.”
However, despite the beliefs of others, Yang has encountered difficulties finding a job.
“I was trying to find work, but [with] no work experience, no education, no degree… I turned in over these past six years, thousands of job applications, but I never got an interview,” Yang said.
Yang currently works three jobs.
“I never got a position until just recently this year. It took a long time. I work at Alex’s Bar as a security guard, I also work at the Long Beach Conservation Corps, where I help sustain our environment in the city of Long Beach, and as a student assistant for the NextUp program.”
On his work with NextUp, the newest resource at LBCC for former foster youth, Yang said that he was overall pleased with how the program has worked to help foster youth students through resources such as providing grants, book loans, and bus passes or gas cards. Yang would like to see a peer mentorship program implemented and more of a focus on transferring as well as scholarships.
“It’s important for him to make it known that foster youth need support. He’s been able to experience how the foster youth programs have changed and developed. He’s very dedicated to making sure people know we do have programs for foster youth,” LBCC Foster Youth Counselor and Coordinator Cristina Gutierrez said.
“He’s committed to his education. Despite the struggles in his life, he hasn’t given up. He’s very resilient, and I really admire him for being here, despite everything he’s gone through. He’s defeating the statistics of foster youth.”
Yang intends to transfer but isn’t sure where he wants to go at the moment. He also wants to pick up a trade, which he is working towards through his automotive technology classes.
“My goal is to get myself out of my situation. I don’t always want to be dependent on government funding, and be more independent, so I can have the freedom to do what I want to do more, pursue what’s best for myself, and can give back to my community,” Yang said.