LOS ANGELES, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Jessica Joya and Yicela Vera are two Hispanic students at a high school in a poor Los Angeles neighborhood, who have never dreamed of going to the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), but they made it.

"Our Chinese language certificate obviously is a big plus for us to get us admitted by UCLA," said the two girls, both at 18, in an interview with Xinhua Monday.

Joya is going to learn psychology while Vera plans to learn biology at UCLA, but Joya said she will also take international business classes.

"I like to do business with China with my Chinese language skill in the future," said Joya.

She said she was born in the United States, but her parents are from Mexico, so she can speak both English and Spanish fluently. Now after learning Chinese for four years at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, she is not bilingual, but trilingual.

"China is developing very fast in its economy and to be able to speak and read Chinese will help me in my future career," said Joya.

Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, located in Pacoima, is a large urban public school within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Since the early 1970s, low student achievement had been a pattern. In 1993, tired of being helpless and hopeless, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center became the first conversion charter school in the nation and was authorized by LAUSD.

Dr. Yvonne Chan, Principal of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, told Xinhua it was previously a failing elementary public school but now it is a full-service, community-based, K-12 charter school.

The school serves 1,917 neighborhood students in a poor community that include 96.9 percent eligible for free meals, 2.8 percent eligible for reduced meals, 72 percent English learners, 7.3 percent of students with disabilities. Ninety-eight percent are Hispanic, 1.6 percent African-American, 0.1 percent Asian, and only 0.3 percent are white, according to Chan.

Chan said Chinese learning did play a role in getting more students admitted by better universities. Last year, only two students from her school were admitted by UCLA, but this year seven students have been admitted, all of whom have taken Chinese classes -- the highest rate in the past years.

Chan said the school started its Chinese language program in 2008 and it is one of the few schools in Los Angeles where all high school students will have a chance to take Chinese classes.

"Students should have a global view, and I think Chinese learning will help American students to widen their eyes to know the Chinese culture and the Chinese people," said Chan.

Right now the school has four full-time Chinese teachers, and she is going to enroll more Chinese teachers to start Chinese classes from elementary school in the future.

"So far I have not got a chance to visit China, but I am sure I will go to China in the near future," said Joya.

While learning Chinese, most American students have a better understanding of China. Vera said she had no idea about China before she took Chinese classes, but after that, she learned more about China.

Like the United States, China is not complete, it is beautiful somewhere and not as beautiful as it should be in another, but for any reason, she likes China, its people and the language, although it is difficult to learn.

To help teachers better understand China, Principal Chan has sent all teachers from the school to China for visits. Students and teachers from several schools in China have come to the school to learn English from American students and teach American students Chinese.

"Those exchanges certainly will help students and teachers with global perspectives," said Chan.