What is your hometown? La Puente, CA
What colleges did you attend? Degrees earned? Mt. San Antonio College- AA-T Psychology & A.S. Social Behavioral Sciences
UC Irvine - B.A. Psychology & Social Behavior & B.A. Education Sciences emphasis in Research Evaluation
CSU Long Beach- M.S. Counseling emphasis in Student Development in Higher Education (SDHE)
What motivated you to go to college? The sacrifices that my parents have made to come to this country has always been my driving force to continue my education. I am a daughter of immigrants who at a very young age left everything to find work in this country. My parents have sacrificed their lives including having to work multiple low-wage demanding jobs just to provide for my siblings and I. I want to make the the sacrifices that my parents made worth while. My community also inspires me to go to college. Growing up in La Puente and now working at two very income high schools through Upward Bound, I firsthand see the need to inspire and educate our communities. I want to use my experience and knowledge to support our low-income communities.
Describe your college experience as first-generation. My college experience was initially hard to navigate.I didn't know "how to do college", such as how to study and what questions to ask. College was the whole new unknown world that no one had ever talked to me or prepared me for. When I had a question there was no one at home or in family I could ask because no one knew either. My first semester at Mt. SAC, I felt very unsure of what classes to take, I wasn't studying the way I should have and even failed some classes. It wasn't until I had to learn to navigate for myself and advocate for what I needed. I went to go see a Counselor and that changed my entire journey. My counselor Linda Diaz told me " I am going to help you, Let's do this together" and as a first-gen this meant the world for me. Those words alone made me feel like I was not alone in this journey and there were people that cared about my success. From that moment on even when times got rough, I remember these words and would reach out for help.
What unique challenges did you face? Throughout my entire education, I have had to balance going to school full-time and working multiple jobs to make ends meet. When I was at Mt. SAC, I would be on campus by 8 am for my classes and then book it from one job to the next and not get home until midnight only to do hours of homework and studying. I also faced my parents not understanding the stress that I was going through. They would question why I was always so tired or why I had so much homework. When I would go to the library on Saturday's to study they would question me and get upset because that took me away from my responsibilities at home. Additionally, when I first started at Mt. SAC and again when I started UCI, I felt very alone, I wasn't involved in anything. At UCI, I faced Cultural Shock as there wasn't as many people that looked like me. I felt like as a Latina first- gen I didn't deserve to be at a school like UCI and I began to doubt my academic abilities.
How did you overcome those challenges? Once I reached a point where I could not balance my work and school and my academics were slipping, I decided to quite my jobs and look for an on-campus job. Having an on-campus job was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Working on- campus gave me so much more flexibly and support. After class I didn't have to go on a bus to work, I could simply take a few steps and get to work. My employers' finally understood that I was a student first and would allow me to take time off during my midterms and finals something that unheard of at my other jobs. I also learned so much working from working for Mt. SAC and UCI as a student worker such as professionalism and I was even able to find my passion through these opportunities. Additionally, I had to finally have a conversation with my parents to educate them about college and my unique experiences and the amount of time school requires. From then on I decided to always incorporate my parents and talk to my parents more about my educational journey so they can learn and support my younger siblings rather than leaving them in the unknown since they won't understand. I also began to reach out and find my community among the different support program and student organizations. At Mt. SAC I joined the Honor' Program and built community there by taking on leadership roles. at UCI, I joined M.E.Ch.A and Hermanas Unidadas to help my find my community and allow me to continue to grow and learn about my culture and identities
What did you advise other first-generation students?
