Harvard University student becomes first DACA recipient to win Rhodes Scholarship
"There's no way something like this belongs to just one person," Jin Kyu Park said of how he feels about being awarded the scholarship.
Jin Kyu Park, awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, stands in the Barker Center at Harvard University.Stephanie Mitchell / Harvard University
Nov. 21, 2018 / 6:01 PM EST
By Daniella Silva
A Harvard University senior made history as the first recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, to be awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
Jin Kyu Park, 22, was awarded the scholarship to continue his studies at the University of Oxford in the U.K. next year, the office of the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust announced Saturday.
Park, who grew up in the borough of Queens in New York City, was born in South Korea and has said he came to the U.S. at the age of 7. He is the first recipient of DACA, the Obama administration program that protects some young immigrants from deportation, to win the scholarship.
The Rhodes Trust provides full financial assistance for scholars to pursue a degree at the University of Oxford for two or three years.
Park told NBC News the achievement was still sinking in.
"When they first announced it, it was really — I felt nothing but like an immense gratitude," he said. "Now that gratitude has given way to kind of a desire to use this opportunity to make sure I lift up others in the community. There's no way something like this belongs to just one person."
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/harvard-university-student-becomes-first-daca-recipient-win-rhodes-scholarship-n939146?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma