What is your hometown? Orange County, CA

What colleges did you attend? Degrees earned? Cal Poly Pomona - B.S. Business Administration: Computer Information Systems
University of La Verne - M.B.A. Master’s in Business Administration: Concentration in Finance

What motivated you to go to college? To secure my future, become more qualified and gain a competitive advantage in my career.

Describe your college experience as first-generation. I don't think my experience as a first-generation student was any different than any other first-generation student as my goal was to complete college by putting a lot of time into studying and passing my classes.

What unique challenges did you face? The challenges I faced as a first-generation college student was working part-time while going to college full-time to complete my Bachelor's degree, and then balancing my full-time job and personal life while pursuing my MBA.

How did you overcome those challenges? I overcame this challenge by putting in a lot of time to study for my classes during the evenings and weekends, working with my part-time employer on a flexible work schedule while I pursued my Bachelor's degree, and sacrificing my personal time while I obtained my MBA.

What did you advise other first-generation students? Study hard, don't procrastinate, and network with other students/instructors.