So I know one of my primary challenges
as a first-generation student was the
fact that you don't get as much
resources as you would other people
going through school especially in Moreno
Valley I couldn't ask my parents for
help after middle school dude that
feeling itself made me feel really alone
but in that these challenges are also
empowering to assume as well because you
have to be self driven you have to eat
and that you have to take the initiative
in order to go out and do what you have
to do and find the answers to the
questions that you have there are a lot
of challenges you'll trip you'll stumble
and I stumbled a lot but what I learned
most is that you know there are
resources out there there are people out
there that help you so one of the most
important lessons about being a college
student especially being first
generation is you know it's so hard to
do this on your own especially in
college you know there's so many things
that you don't know about there's so
many resources around you that one of
the most important lessons is utilizing
those resources coming from high school
and I did not feel prepared for college at
all I didn't feel like my high school
adequately prepared me for the classes
and the rigor so I came at the college you
know feeling that I was sort of behind
and you know I had this desperate
attempt to say, "I need to catch
up. I need to do something." And so in doing so I really look to what
resources I have
so I sort of found the ARC, I found Hpac
the Health Professions Advising Center
and those were just great places in order
for me to start figure out what do I
need and how do I fulfill those needs. I used the ARC and I think the ARC has been
very instrumental in my ability as a
student. So I felt behind when I came
into college I didn't come from the
greatest high school, I didn't have a lot of
resources so the ARC was one of the best
places to catch me up and keep me in the
now, in that kind of sense. The supplemental
instruction leaders, the SI's were so
helpful and what they had they knew how
the class work and basically know by
going to that I felt caught up and I
felt like I could match my peers
I came into college not really
completely sure of what I was doing and
so when I came to HPAC they sort of
like crystallized that and also set
direction for me. I really couldn't ask my parents what to do - I don't think most
people in my school knew what to do either, my high school. So coming to this
counselor lost I didn't have direction
but I have worked with an advisor for my
entirety of my college career
and one of the best things that it's
connected me the resources that I
wouldn't have known before especially
ARC and it's also given me sort of that
motivation and sort of that support that
I often needed that I lacked HPAC
has been you know one of the most
impactful things in terms the direction
I want my future to go to
