BY HUGO CIPRIANI
On Sept. 6, 1938, the day after Labor Day, I was sitting on the steps of the library at UCLA. I couldn’t believe what I read in its catalogue.
Tuition was “free” to California residents ““ the incidental fees were $27 per semester and an extra $2 for gym and library privileges. New students had to submit an application and pay $3 for the filing fee.
Sept. 6 was the last day to file an application.
When I graduated from high school at the beginning of the Depression, in 1931, that ended any hope for college. Seven years later, transient and homeless, I worked as an extra caddy at the Lakeside golf course in Burbank. I could only carry golf bags on weekends and holidays.
Fate and destiny brought me to the UCLA campus. My thoughts went back to graduation from high school. I had completed three years of Latin and made the Honors Society. But that was seven years ago.
At 25, would I be admitted and accepted as a freshman? And should I give up my last $3 for the application fee? I’d had $6 the day before, but after paying $2.50 for my room in Hollywood, I had only $3.50 before I caddied again in four days.
What chance did I have to enroll and work my way through UCLA? With odds stacked against me, I took this gamble. It was now or never.
Biting that bullet led me out of an empty life into action, courage and self-realization. My three years at UCLA were unbelievable. No doubt, I was the happiest student at UCLA.
Today, at 97, I still cherish the two favorite quotes that carried me through UCLA. May today’s new students also adopt and cherish the truth and wisdom in both.
First, from Shakespeare: “This above all, to thine own self be true.”
Second, from Pericles: “The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom a brave heart.”
Hugo Cipriani is a UCLA alumnus.