You can do that? These transfer students carved their own paths to UCLA

When J.R. Johnson and Lili Kazarian walked into their first UCLA classes last month, they shared this in common: They're both Bruin transfers. But they took very different routes to Westwood.

For Johnson, it meant walking away from college, moving across the country to pursue an acting career, becoming his father's caregiver and teaching himself to build apps - before giving college another shot.

Kazarian, who immigrated to the United States from Armenia as a child, finished high school in just eight months through a self-paced program before attending community college.

Now their paths have converged in Westwood, where Johnson is working toward his bachelor's degree at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, while Kazarian is pursuing a bachelor's in political science.

They both hope to use their education to solve problems they and their loved ones have faced and, in doing so, help others along the way.

J.R. Johnson: A code of conduct

Johnson's interest in systems that shape people's lives began early. When he was 9, his uncle was incarcerated and would remain in prison for roughly 25 years. By the time Johnson enrolled at Missouri State University at 18, he was considering becoming a lawyer to help people like his uncle.

As a system-impacted first-generation college student, Johnson chose criminology without fully understanding the field or how to navigate college.

"The honest version is that I failed at college the first time," he said.

Johnson eventually changed course, participating in the Disney College Program at the Florida theme parks before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Years later, he found himself thinking about the plan B his parents had encouraged him to have.

By then, his uncle had been released from prison and was struggling with reentry into society. Johnson was also helping his father, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for decades and has faced memory loss and other symptoms. He joined Johnson in Los Angeles, where the aspiring actor could be his father's full-time caregiver.

Johnson taught himself to code and, following online tutorials, developed Jon's MS Memory Quiz, an app with questions based on his father's life, including childhood memories, family members and one of his favorite pastimes: bowling.

Johnson hoped the app might help his father hold on to those memories - and of them together.

"That would really hurt me 10 or 15 years down the line if I'm the same person, he's the same person, but he doesn't remember me," Johnson said.

He next created Aura, an app incorporating cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy techniques. After that, he developed Leafora, an AI tool to identify plants and diagnose their care needs. But Johnson also began reflecting on problems in his loved ones' lives that coding couldn't solve, such as his father's difficulties with navigating benefits and his uncle's challenges after leaving prison.

In 2023, Johnson, now 40, enrolled at Los Angeles Mission College. This time, he approached college as "a system to learn instead of a maze to survive." He joined the Honors Transfer Program, helped other students navigate the transfer process and earned four associate degrees.

Now at UCLA, Johnson plans to study the kinds of systems he has encountered and learn how to improve them. He's also applying to the UCLA Quarter in Washington program and has proposed researching parole and reentry policy.

"I didn't go back to school to learn code," Johnson said. "I already could. I went back to learn who to build for."

Lili Kazarian: A 'zoom' of her own

When Kazarian arrived in the U.S. eight years ago, she didn't speak English. But that wouldn't be the case for long.

As her English improved, Kazarian often helped translate for her parents as they navigated life in a new country. A defining moment for Kazarian was her family's immigration hearing, where the then 9-year-old stepped in as a courtroom interpreter, giving the judge introductions for her family members and relaying important information between the parties.

Knowing her family's future hinged on a legal system she was struggling to understand was frightening, but it gave her resolve:

"Seeing my parents there so vulnerable made me want to pursue law to be able to help families like mine," she said.

That experience stayed with her, as did her parents' decision to leave their lives in Armenia to create new opportunities for Kazarian and her older brother. The sacrifices they made weren't lost on her: She was determined that a good education would be the most important way to give back.

Kazarian always worked ahead as a student, sometimes finishing future assignments in case her parents might need her help translating. After middle school, she spent two days at her local high school before deciding the traditional four-year route wasn't right for her.

She found Penn Foster, a self-paced high school program, and set what she acknowledged was an "unrealistic goal."

She would sometimes spend 10 or 11 hours a day doing schoolwork, keeping track of assignments she wanted to finish and checking them off in a notebook.

Eight months later, she had completed high school.

Kazarian - and her parents - initially couldn't believe it. When she received an email congratulating her on her graduation from high school, she remembers thinking, "Wait, am I really done?"

At 14, Kazarian enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, where she studied political science and aimed to connect the field to her fellow students' lived experiences. "Many students struggle to see how their identity, culture and experiences fit into political work," Kazarian said. "As the child of immigrants, I learned how crucial it is to advocate for oneself, and I wanted others to feel that same sense of possibility."

Kazarian, who was involved in the Political Science Club and the Armenian Students' Association, brought the two clubs together for events connecting cultural identity with public service, advocacy, and government relations. For instance, she arranged for a guest speaker from the Armenian Assembly of America, whose work in community advocacy resonated with the two clubs' goals.

As she begins her first quarter at UCLA, Kazarian, now 16 and among this fall's youngest transfer students, is already thinking ahead to law school and exploring where a legal career might take her. But for the moment, she's eager to experience being a Bruin - something she once imagined only from afar.

"I would look at pictures before applying, and say, 'I see myself there,'" Kazarian said. "So now that I'm there, it's like a dream come true."