Profiles of First Generation College Students

These are the stories of people who are first generation college students. We learned about their background, struggles, successes, support, resources, and integration to college life. The stories include students, faculty, and staff of Saint Mary’s College as well as others who were generous enough to share their stories about their college experience.

Profiles updated May 19, 2007

Ronald Ahnen: "He had several advantages which many first-generation college students do not have. However, his story is very inspiring and filled with adventure and personal transformation."

Josimar Alulema: "My future and education has strictly come from my motivation, behavior, action, and transformation. I have taken action in any open opportunity that has been given to me, all to live a more prosperous life."

Ana Manuela Carrasco: "I am proud to be a First Generation College student and I do not see it as hindering or shameful. I find that as a First Generation student I am held accountable to myself and I am independent because I have had to learn how to succeed on my own."

Rachel Carrion: "Rachel has surrounded herself with good people. She carries on strong family values of dedication and faith. These values have kept her grounded and able to achieve what she sees as a dream. "

Felicia Fuentes: "She realizes that she has been given a great opportunity to attend college, and is very dedicated to her studies, because she knows that she has to succeed in college for herself and her family."

Betty Gallardo: "With Betty’s higher education she also wants to go back to her community and help others in need."

Aliza Heslop: "Through Aliza's hard work and determination she was able to be successful in the application process and was accepted at several excellent schools."

Sheethal Luckose: "To other first generation college students, Sheethal wants to tell them her story of her struggles, and hope that her experiences will motivate them to go to school. Sheethal knows that with the college experience, she will be able to look at life differently."

Gabe Mayora: "Gabe is currently a freshman at St. Mary's College and hopes to continue on to graduate school."

Maryann and Paul Miernicki: "Though her parents were not rich, Maryann felt that 'breaking in' to college was easy because it serves as a leveler, placing everyone on the same playing field."

Ana Padilla: "I was in a special class called AVID which is specifically designed to guide students to college so that helped me through the struggle of high school."

Nina Pham: "By acknowledging her family's history, she is able to learn more about herself and is inspired to become a successful individual."

Cathleen Rivera: "She faced many obstacles including racism, family issues, and a lack of cultural capital."

Fabiola Rufino: "I have been lucky enough that my father, although not college educated himself, has always held education in high regard and has passed on this value to me, along with his won voracious appetite for success and knowledge."

Dulce Torres: "The return back to St. Mary's was wonderful. I was a new person and ready to start all over. I wouldn't have been able to do this without my parents' support. Through at times they didn't know and understand what it took for me to go to college, they still supported me. For that I thank them."

Jenna Zack: "She has an opportunity to find herself a good job because of choosing to attend college. She hopes to be a positive role model for her cousins because she was influenced by her own family to attend college."

Omar Zazueta: "He has done numerous amounts of jobs on and off campus in assisting first generation college students. Omar has accomplished his goal of improving his family life and he has also been able to improve the lives of others along the way."

Profiles updated May 18, 2007

Marissa Brown: "Marissa credits her success to her support and love from her family, her personal dedication and drive, and her faith in God."

Angela DeVore: "The college-related opportunities and support I grew up with are asset-based, and I would be happy to share my cultural capital with other first

generation college students."

Patricia Gamboa: "Her decision to attend college was based on the fact that she would be making a better life for herself and accomplishing something that her parents were not able to do."

Moisés Gonazlez: "Throughout his whole educational career Moisés was encouraged by his parents to study harder each and every day."

Veronica Gonzalez: "Despite the many obstacles I am still working on overcoming, I am currently on my way to accomplish my dream of becoming a first generation college graduate."

Lisa Layton: "Layton expressed how the real motivation for her to attended college was to be able to provide for her children that she will one day have, in a different way then her parents were able to provide for her."

Maria Peralta: "The most help she received for the college applying process was from a program called Upward Bound, a program designed to aid college-bound minorities."

Eloisa Ramos: "Eloisa will always be a life long learner, even though she is not in college anymore."

Martin Rockford: "Today he is a professor of geochemistry and one of the most accomplished researchers in his field."

Sandra VanSteyn: "Sandra was always searching for more and with inspiration found in the endeavors of her two grandmothers she stepped out of her home country and into the United States where she would pursue and education and completely defy the gender roles that her home country had set up for her."

Cameron Wilson-Ferruolo: "His story is one of perseverance and willpower seen from only few people coming from urban neighborhoods."

Profiles updated May 15, 2007

Rachel Amores: "My family has been very supportive about me attending college because they want the best for me."

Alejandra Enriquez: "With the tremendous help of my family and mentors, I am now currently attending St. Mary’s College of California, where I plan to start my career of becoming a forensic anthropologist."

Lanisha Gilmore: "Lanisha worked hard to bring her grades up and prove to herself and others that she is worthy of attending a university; and with the help of programs for college bound students, she was accepted into Saint Mary’s College."

Claudia Hawkins : "In my heart I knew I wanted to graduate at any cost and with the encouragement of a academic advisor and a certain Christian brother on campus, success was in my hands."

Maria M. Hernández: Defining Who I Am: First Generation

Oscar Hernández: Oscar always believes that “it doesn’t matter where you are from, what matters is where you’re going.”

Kerry Leung: "If it wasn’t for the schools I went to, I wouldn’t have turned out the way that I am now. Education is the highlight of my life."

Megan Magpusao: "Inspired by her parents’ hardships and what they sacrificed in order to give her two older siblings and her a better life, Megan worked very hard in school to succeed."

Roger Marquez: "My parents encouraged us to feel passionate about education because they felt that would allow us to have better opportunities in the future."

Akshay Parikh: "I always thought to myself that I am very fortunate to be studying here in America."

Rachel Reyes: "Now with her future goal to become a dentist, hard work, support, and dedication to her education has helped her through the long process of fulfilling her dream."

Jane Sayo: "Her love for education is growing on its own day by day and although in the beginning of her fall semester she struggled because she wasn’t used to the college workload, her friends and family supported her and encouraged her to do well."

Hurleen Sidhu: "I am majoring in International Area Studies and will continue on to become an international lawyer."

Nubia Vargas: "I want to build the courage and the motivation to do this for myself. The strongest belief is the one I have for myself."

Sarah Vital: "She greatly values her college experience as the opportunity to find out who she is. Sarah went on to graduate school where she earned two masters degrees from San Jose State, and now works in the Saint Mary’s College Library."

Members of the Foundation Generation also include:

Rodney Alcantara
Roxanne Alvarez

Rosario Barrientos

Brenna Biggs

Osvaldo Campos

Angelberto Cortez, Jr.