# @ucberkeleyofficial on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXaht6cGhgr
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64635166-ucberkeleyofficial-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/bc11b528c9.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-22T00:51:38.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** UC Berkeley (@ucberkeleyofficial) — https://gondola.cc/ucberkeleyofficial

## Caption

“I felt overwhelmed and kind of lost, literally and figuratively.” 

In 2016, Dean Tanioka was ready to drop out of UC Berkeley. Now he helps nontraditional students find their place. 

As a transfer student, he looked forward to jumpstarting his academic life. He thought he wanted a career in medicine. His family called him Dr. Dean. 

But Tanioka was quickly buried under the weight of a science-heavy courseload. He also struggled to navigate college’s unwritten rules — the “hidden curriculum” that shapes who finds educational, research and career opportunities and who does not. 

He nearly dropped out. But a temporary job far from campus gave him the distance he needed to see things clearly. 

He realized his experiences of growing up in a working, middle-class family still impacted by the legacy of Japanese internment camps and mental health struggles could affect his ability to move forward. They could also be tools for helping others.

“It felt like a fresh start. It gave me perspective,” Tanioka said. “These are some of the things that I felt were part of my story, my journey, part of myself.”

He returned to campus on a mission to help others learn about their stories, too. 

The result? NAVCAL.

Tanioka changed his major to sociology and co-founded NAVCAL to help nontraditional, first-generation students navigate UC Berkeley. He graduated in 2018 and has grown NAVCAL into a driver for social mobility and a resource for nontraditional students — like him. 

Over 1,000 students have gone through NAVCAL and collectively won approximately $16 million in scholarships and fellowships. 

“NAVCAL can be and is that vehicle to move the world in a direction that benefits everyone,” Tanioka said.“Berkeley is fortunate to have us here. We are what make this place such a unique institution of higher education because of our experiences, our stories and our perspectives.”

It’s something he tells his students each semester. 

“I’m also saying this to me.”

Story link in bio: https://bit.ly/4vEYLtj 

#UCBerkeley #CalAlumStory

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## Tags

ucberkeley, calalumstory

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