What is your hometown? Baldwin Park, California

What colleges did you attend? Degrees earned? Mt. SAC: A.A. Social and Behavioral Sciences, UCLA: B.A. Sociology, CSULB M.S. Counseling, Student Development in Higher Education

What motivated you to go to college? As a first-generation Latina I have learned to be resourceful, patient, and make sacrifices to move through the educational pipeline. During my first two years at Baldwin Park High School I had a total of nine D’s and two F’s. I was more concerned with what my friends were doing than going to school. I often ditched classes and spent my time with the wrong crowd. My parents were worried about the poor decisions I was making. However, as working class immigrants their only priority was for my younger brother and I to simply graduate from high school and then help at home. My life trajectory was changed when my baby sister, Crystal, was born. For example, my mother had no choice than to go back to working nights after her maternity leave, thus, I was made responsible for Crystal’s well being. My mother made this decision naturally, since she values traditional gender roles and wanted me to abide by her values. At the age of fifteen, I had to become more mature than my peers, for I became a mother to Crystal. Therefore, my daily routine was to quickly get home before my mother left to work, finish cooking dinner, finish house chores, attend to all of Crystal’s needs, and then at around 10pm do my homework. Although my father was home in the evenings, he refused to help me since he believed that taking care of a baby and doing house chores was woman’s work.
Nonetheless, I managed my multiple responsibilities, received straights A’s my last two years of high school, and graduated as most improved for the class of 2010 with a 2.1 GPA. Graduating from high school was very difficult for me because of the multiple roles I had, but I learned to be punctual, prioritize, and multitask. Through it all, Crystal was my motivation and I wanted to be the best example possible for her. I aspired for a better life at home and looked to college as the answer. However, I was misinformed about college and I did not feel I had support at home or through my high school. My parents wanted me to be successful in college, but they did not want to compromise my responsibilities at home, especially since my mother was expecting another baby. I felt scared to start college taking care of a two year old and a new-born baby, but I did not want to give up my hopes of a better future.

Describe your college experience as first-generation. I had many fears as a first-generation student starting college. However, all these feelings changed when I started the Summer Bridge Program at Mt San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in 2010. With the unconditional support of the Bridge Program staff and professors, I was able to no longer see myself as a victim of my circumstances and develop characteristics of a creator. At home I still had to put my school needs aside, take care of chores, and my siblings, but through the Bridge Program, I felt supported and encouraged to push through. Bridge taught me to create study groups, communicate with professors, go to tutoring, and always ask for help. My English professor Gary Enke helped me realize that although I had academic challenges, I was college material and that I can be an honor’s student. By the end of the intensive six-week summer program, I received three A’s in my coursework. It was at this moment that I realized that with the support of the Bridge Program, I would be able to excel and finish college while taking care of my responsibilities at home. I felt so grateful and passionate about Bridge and its mission that I volunteered in all their events. This passion to share the Bridge Program resources with other first-generation students like myself inspired me to become a Peer Advisor for the program. As a first-generation Mexican-American college student, mother to my siblings, full time honor student, and part time college employee, I graduated from Mt. SAC with an Associates of Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences with Honors, and earned a seat at UCLA as a Sociology major.
At UCLA I was challenged in new ways and had to adapt to a new culture. Academically, I excelled earning a 4.0 my first quarter. However, I felt out of place as a transfer student of color. During my first quarter I took a research methods course where I walked into a lecture hall of primarily white students, and a professor boldly announcing that transfer students will struggle in her class. I quickly realized that as a minority student being academically prepared was not all I needed to be a successful student at UCLA, but also a strong support system that reminded me that I belong at UCLA. I decided to use the skills I learned as a Peer Advisor at MT. SAC and apply them. I sought out resources and ways to connect to campus.

What unique challenges did you face? What makes my journey to higher education as first-generation college student unique to me is that I had multiple roles to balance. I was expected to take care of my 2 younger siblings and take care of all the chores at home while I was trying to be a full time honor student and work multiple jobs at the same time. Many times, I wanted to give. I would have low points and think to myself, what is the point of working so hard to earn a college degree if my family does not even care? I would also ask myself, do I really belong in college? These were questions I struggled with throughout my educational journey.

How did you overcome those challenges? I was able to overcome these challenges because of the support I found in the Summer Bridge Program. The Summer Bridge Program became a safe haven where I had a platform to recreate myself and evolve as the scholar that nobody thought I was before. The internalized feelings of not being good enough were no match to the empowering mentors and leaders around me through the Bridge Program. My counselor, Anabel Perez, inspired me to be a leader and work hard for what I believed in. As a daughter of immigrants herself, she understood the harsh traditional gender-roles I dealt with at home and my additional home responsibilities. She reminded me that the sacrifices I made to help my family would be worth it, and that my education was worth the work. Even after I transferred to UCLA, she reminded me of the value of getting out of my comfort zone as I was learning to adapt to a new culture. Anabel became a second mother to me for she understood me and supported me through my higher educational journey in ways that my birth parents were not able to.
Anabel was my professor, my counselor, my supervisor, my friend, and now my colleague. Through her, I have seen the profound power a counselor can have on a student. She was critical to my retention, tenacity, and student development. Because of her support, I was able to earn my bachelor’s degree from UCLA. It just took one person to really show me the way.

What did you advise other first-generation students? Have an open mind and an open heart as you start this new chapter of your life. You have the ability to do whatever you set your mind to, don't give up, reach out for help, we all need a village to make it.