Summary
Languages: Spanish and English
I was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. My parents are both from a small town in Veracruz, Mexico. Although I was raised in the United States, my first language was Spanish. From a young age, my parents stressed the importance of obtaining an education and always told me I would go to college. Even on my hardest days when I was buried in schoolwork, I remember the wise words of my dad “Tu único trabajo es concentrarte en la escuela y tienes que prepararte para no estar trabajando día y noche como yo. La educación es algo que nadie te puede quitar.” (Your only job is to focus on school, and you must prepare yourself so that you are not working day and night like me. Your education is something no one can ever take away from you.) And then he would get me with “¿O crees que es bonito pasar todo el día trabajando?” (Or do you think it’s nice to spend the whole day working?)
During my time at the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ as an undergraduate, I would constantly think of my father and how much harder he had to work as an immigrant in the United States, all just to be able to afford for my tuition. Though I knew I was a first-generation student, I did not know what it really meant until I saw the number of sacrifices my parents made for me to be able to attend a university. I noticed the number of obstacles I had to overcome in order to be at the university. It was a difficult transition especially as the first in my family to attend a university. Luckily, I had the support from the Dean’s Future Scholars program that believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself.
I am proud to say I am a first-generation college graduate. I graduated with two bachelor's degrees in Social Work and Spanish in May 2021. I am working toward obtaining a master’s degree in Social Work with an emphasis on Management and Community Practice from UNLV and set to graduate in May 2023. Through my experience as a first-gen student I found my passion to work directly with students and the community. I am now the Southern Nevada Program Coordinator for a great state-wide initiative dedicated to Nevada’s first-generation student population, the Nevada First-Gen Network!