What is your hometown? Hemet, CA

What colleges did you attend? Degrees earned? Mt. San Jacinto College – A.A. Liberal Arts
Cal State San Bernardino – B.A. Sociology
University of Redlands – M.A. Counseling

What motivated you to go to college? To have a better life for myself and to provide a better life for my family

Describe your college experience as first-generation. After graduation from high school, I joined the U.S Navy because I did not know what else to do. I had no one pushing me to go to college, and no one could tell me how to apply to college or how to pay for college so I went into the Navy in hopes of finding a way to pay for college and at the same time experience something big.

What unique challenges did you face? Not having the push from family or friends to go to college. Not having the information I needed to go to college. Not having the self-confidence that I could go to college. Not having the money to go to college.

How did you overcome those challenges? The military helped me build confidence in myself and provided me with the finances needed to attend college.

What did you advise other first-generation students? Seek out the information you need to attend college on your own if you have to. Ask questions and seek out help. Believe in yourself, and that you belong in college. Find your own internal motivation for wanting to go to college.