Jim Parque grew up poor in Southern California. His father made less than US$20,000 per year and his mother, a Vietnamese immigrant, worked at a textiles factory in Chinatown, Los Angeles. On this income, Parque\'s parents struggled to provide for Parque and his brother. Parque himself had to work in a sweatshop in Los Angeles as a young boy.\n', '

Parque attended Crescenta Valley High School where he was mentored by former All-Star pitcher Jerry Reuss. As a senior, Parque compiled a 12–3 record and was voted the Pacific League Player of the Year and MVP. He also broke the school\'s strikeout record. Parque began his high school baseball career at 5\'1" tall and roughly 110 pounds; the school was unable to find a jersey small enough to fit him. By the time he graduated, he still stood at only 5\'5" and weighed 132 pounds. Although he was recruited by such college baseball teams as the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins and Miami Hurricanes, professional scouts showed little interest in him because of his size. Parque was not selected until the 50th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.\n', '

From 1994 to 1997, Parque attended UCLA and led the Bruins to the College World Series in 1997. Parque earned second-team Smith Super Team honors in his sophomore season in 1996. In his junior year, Parque was voted first-team All-American by Baseball America, first-team All-Pac-10 Conference, second-team by the Sporting News, second-team by the American Baseball Coaches Association, and third-team by Collegiate Baseball. Parque is one of the most decorated pitchers in UCLA Baseball history. He currently ranks second in career games started with 50, second in career total innings pitched with 334​2⁄3 innings, second in career strikeouts with 319, third in career pitching wins with 25, and seventh in career complete games with 10. In terms of single season pitching records for the Bruins, Parque ranks third in wins with 13 in 1997, ninth for games started with 19 in 1997, ninth for innings pitched with 125​2⁄3 in 1996, fourth in strikeouts with 119 in 1997, and fifth in strikeouts with 116 in 1996.\n', '

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