Meet Irie
One could say UC Davis runs in Irie Odom’s veins – before coming to UC Davis in January as a transfer student, her great grandfather and aunt were proud Aggies. Originally attending UC Santa Cruz because of her love for the coast, Irie decided she wanted to be closer to her rural hometown in Northern California where she was raised by her grandparents.
“Besides, it’s in my family to go to UC Davis,” she said.
Irie was in foster care for a few months as a toddler before her biological grandparents adopted her. She now calls them her parents, and her aunts her older sisters. She feels lucky to also have a good relationship with her biological parents, so she wanted to go to school closer to home.
After leaving UC Santa Cruz, Irie took some time off from school to manage other circumstances in her life and landed in Davis as a student of global disease biology.
“Honestly, it started out pretty intense,” she said. “The first two weeks I was going to bed at 1am every night because there was always something I had to deal with. It was a rough start, and I was pretty stressed out.”
Soon after, she found the UC Davis Guardian Scholars Program for former foster youth.
“It’s not easy being a young student transitioning from being a high schooler living with your family to living on your own, but the Guardian Scholars Program introduced me to so many different supports,” Irie said.
Irie was living off campus for the first time and struggling to afford groceries – much less furniture – when the program connected her to Make It Happen for Yolo County.
“Make It Happen was honestly just absolutely incredible,” she said. “The sheer volume was amazing. They literally gave me every single thing I wanted – furniture, bedding, kitchen supplies, even a bike. That bike has been a lifesaver since I was having to walk from South Davis to get to class.”
Irie said the kitchen supplies have allowed her to make nutritious meals for herself, and the cleaning supplies have helped her transform her somewhat old apartment.
“I was trying to innovate ways to clean my apartment, but then Make It Happen gave me a good quality vacuum, mop and cleaning detergent, so I was able to make my home comfortable,” she said.
Irie said despite the rough start, she feels like her own determination and problem-solving skills have allowed her to create a home for herself and helped her have more confidence. She also has strengthened her communication skills by living with roommates and working with professors and supervisors. She is proud that she recently landed her first job, working for the UC Davis mouse biology program.
“It’s kind of hard to describe in non-nerdy terms, but we’re working on nutrition, medication and diseases like Alzheimer’s. I feel lucky because it’s directly related to what I want to do for my career,” Irie said.
When not working or studying, Irie has become passionate about teaching herself new skills. This summer she started learning Russian.
“It’s been pretty rewarding to discover the beauty of putting in the effort to learn a new skill just for the sake of it, not to forward myself in my career,” she said.
Irie is projected to graduate in June 2027, and she plans to eventually earn a PhD, start a family and own a nice home. She hopes other students like her will accept services from Make It Happen.
“At first I thought it was too good to be true, and I didn’t deserve all this,” Irie said. “I would say to other students, yes you do deserve it. You’re here in college working hard at a milestone in your life. It’s a lot to deal with transitioning from being dependent. Make It Happen is a great way to alleviate that stress so you can focus more of your energy on your education.”
