Yeah so being a first generation
does come with some of its
complications in that my parents
knew nothing about college,
nobody in my family did and I do
come from a very large family.
My mother always just wanted us
to live a good life, get a job
after we graduate and be
able to live healthy
and have financial stability.
Looking for colleges was
definitely a different
experience for me because in
high school, especially my first
two years, I never even thought
of myself going to school.
I thought, honestly I thought
I was worthless, I didn’t see
myself going anywhere.
So at the end of my sophomore
year I had about a 2.2 GPA
and then I had a talk with my
high school counselor, she sat
me down and she told me Omar, do
you realize what you're doing
with your life,
what are you doing?
How are you going to make your
mother’s sacrifices worth it?
My mother was the one who
crossed here whenever she was
pregnant with my twin brother
and I to give us a better life
and hearing those words really
started propelling me to want to
do something with my life.
The biggest thing was I wanted
to be a leader on this campus
and so one of the first things
I did was I joined the Hispanic
Student Association and H.S.A.
is definitely the thing that
changed my life here at OSU.
My sophomore year I managed to
become the Community Service
Chair, I talked
to so many people.
I started involving H.S.A. with
other organizations and the very
next year I became the
president of the organization.
You know I managed to rank
in the top of my class when I
graduated and the only reason I
say that is because my mother
was there to witness my
graduation in a different color
robe and she was able to see the
effort that I had really put in
to my academics, to being a
leader on campus and so it was a
token of me showing to her that
as soon as I got my diploma,
here’s, this is the proof.
I did what I could
to make you proud.
It was an amazing moment
that I will cherish forever.
♪Music♪
