(cymbal clang)
(upbeat music)
- So as a first generation
college student,
I thought college was
about going to class,
doing my work, and
then going home.
- I really didn't know
how or where to start.
I didn't even know what to ask.
- I really didn't know
what I didn't know, right.
So I didn't know that I was
missing a lot of information.
Completely like a
fish out of water.
- So we kinda have to figure
everything out by ourselves.
- Sometimes you're out here,
you miss your mother's cooking.
There's no right way
of missing your family.
- You got here,
you got accepted.
You're here with people that
already had that kind of help.
But you made it by yourself,
like, that's amazing.
- Being here is just,
it's a dream come true.
- Definitely.
- Definitely.
- Being in college, there's
definitely ups and downs,
there's some roadblocks,
but never feel
like you're the only
one going through them.
There's so many people here.
There's so many people in
the same position as you.
- College is kind of a space
for you to learn
beyond the classroom,
so it's kind of a place to
where you can really grow
your professional goals or
personal goals that you have.
Become engaged in
different communities.
- I didn't want to go
alone on this journey
so I had to seek out for help.
- My advice would be just
to get yourself involved.
- Have a community here because
that's the number one thing
that led to my success.
- Start exploring things that
you could become involved in,
like organizations, clubs.
(determined music)
- The ONDAS Student Center and
the Transfer Student Center
support the academic
success of first-generation
college students and
transfer students.
- The Transfer Student
Center is a one-stop shop
for transfer students to
connect with academic advising,
campus resources, and to
find your first-gen family
among the larger
campus community.
- The ONDAS Student Center
provides peer mentoring
and provides opportunities
for students to connect
with faculty members
outside of the classroom.
- As a first-generation,
sometimes you're not aware
that the university offers
so many different things.
- There's a lot of people
out there who can help you,
who are willing to help
you, and who will help you.
- We're the first in our
family, so we do have something
to prove and
something to achieve.
- It's gonna be really
satisfying walking across
that graduation
stage, and you know,
making my mom and my dad proud.
It's really, you
know, meaningful
to know that you do
it for them as well.
- The most successful
students I knew
at UCSB when we graduated were
first-generation students.
- Just embrace being
first-generation.
- Yeah, it's great.
- Yeah.
(light music)
- Don't be afraid
to ask questions.
Navigating school by
yourself is really difficult
and almost impossible.
- And you know, you're like,
okay, I'm not by myself.
I'm not the first person and
I'm not gonna be the last
person to come through
first-generation.
