Hi Ester my name is Anita Casavantes
Bradford you already know that I am an
associate professor of history and
chicano-latino studies here at UCI and
I'm a first gen student myself and first
woman in my family to go to graduate
from high school so we're here today to
talk about you and your experiences as a
first gen student tell us a little bit
about yourself. Ok so my name is
Ester Kim I'm double majoring in psychology
and social behavior and criminology on
society and I'm also the first person in
my family to go to college as well as
graduate from high school and I guess
seek like a higher education within my
family household so the first
generation and also the first person to
go. Fascinating and you mentioned to me
that you grew up in Brazil.  Yes. I think
it's really cool and then came to the US
when you were how old? I came to the US
when I was 13. Okay so you're actually
speaking not just as a first gen student
but also as an immigrant student. Yes.
Right which I think it's really interesting
when did you realize that you wanted to
go to university. Um that's a
really hard question however so I always
wanted to get a higher education however
I didn't know in what field I wanted to
to get it in also didn't know what I
wanted to study and at the same time I
didn't know what career path I wanted to
take in as well but growing up by my
family I always worked and my parents
themselves didn't go to school they
didn't read on they didn't wanna they
didn't go for to get a higher education
or anything like that and even my older
sister didn't do it as well and I'm the
middle child from my family and so
therefore I had a lot of I took on a lot
of jobs I worked since I was 18 till I
was about 20 years old and throughout the
time I was just trying to find where I
fit in what kind of job I really wanted
to pursue at the end
and nothing really fulfilled me and then
afterwards after graduating from high
school I signed up to go to a community
college in Cyprus and I took a bunch of
different courses at first I wanted to
be a translator because I do have the
cultural background so I took in a lot
of spanish classes and French and then
and then all of a sudden I found a new
interest of where I wanted to be a flight
attendant so I applied for a work I
apply for work at a International
Airport I think in LAX and I worked
there for a year and all of a sudden
that didn't really fulfill me and then
so I kind of tried to stick in school
and see where my my niche was there and
then all of a sudden I felt psychology
and I found a really new interest in it
and with it I was just like oh maybe I
can really do something with it and
help the community and really serve the
people that I want to serve and and also
an interesting fact about that is that I
have a personal background with
experience with domestic violence and I
thought that pursuing a career in this
field of psychology would help me you
know become a voice to those who have
been in same situation as me hopefully
help victims of domestic violences as
well as your children and advocate for
them to have a better lifestyle and also
and also a really Pro rehabilitation for
those who are abusers as well in order
for them to intergrate into our society in the
future yeah so you went into Community
College already with just a really rich
background and also really like
challenging background right you were an
immigrant you had difficulties in your
household right and those things kind of
lead you towards the field of psychology
yes now talk to me about your journey
from Community College into UCI how did
you end up here? Yeah that's that's a
okay so when I
after I graduated from Cypress College I
applied to so many to various schools and
then I got into Cal State Long Beach,
Fullerton and UCI and my mind was
between Cal State Long Beach and UCI
I knew that coming to UCI would give
me a lot of resources that a Cal State
wouldn't give me.  I spoke
to one of my professors they told me
that most classes are taught at Cal
State by mainly like a graduate
student instead of a professor and just
seeing like all those I guess like
just relating those ups and downs
between at Cal State and  UC
helped me see that oh maybe
I should go to a UC for it to get my
my undergrad and also because UCI
is also heavily known to be a
research-based campus and I really like
that I really like that the fact that
you introduce students to that aspect of
a of an undergraduate program because
it's also helpful for students to go get
a graduate degree because Ph.D.'s
are really really heavily based on
research so it would be a really good I
guess in first introduction for me and
see whether or not I want to get that
degree after I graduate here. So you were
already thinking about graduate school? Yes.
even when you were at community college. Yeah I mean
being wanting to be a psychology major I
I just wanted to get get the best of it
that everything has to offer like that
the schools have to offer me so I do
want the higher degree I do want to go
above and beyond I do want to you know
get everything that it has to offer me
and at the same time after I reach that
level of professionalism I also want to
give in to my community give them
everything that they need as well and in
my mind I just thought that you know
getting PhD degree it graduate degree
was the way to go for me and at the same
time if I'm here then why not why not go
all the way and then and then yeah reach
my goals
and and my dreams and things like that.
So what would you say to first gen
students who might think that because
they are low-income or because no one in
their family has gone to college that
you know just getting to university is
already as far as they can go and that
graduate school is for it's not for
people like us right what would you say
to those students? So lately I've been
thinking a lot about graduate school and
there are so many options out there I
was thinking whether or not I wanted to
get a masters or PhD at first so I went
to talk with a lot of professors as well
as the counselors from the transfer
center and the counselors of the
transfer center told me that because
most of them have a master's program and
one of them told me that the not all
masters programs are funded however you
shouldn't limit yourself into applying
them because in some masters program they
can actually help you pay for your
master's degree by working by working
for the campus or if you are like you
said like low-income they do have a you
do have a program for where students
only pay a copay of three hundred
dollars or something and the school pays
for the rest and also all PhD programs
or most of them are funded so students
don't even have to pay out of pocket on
what would they have to do with you know
have give TA hours work for the campus
into doing research so everything is
funded everything there is a way I
myself thought that I was so limited
because I myself don't have the funds to
or my family doesn't either and as I
said before I am in an immigrant
student I don't get all the funds of the
government but at the same time because
they do have the residency of California
I do get some and yeah I I would tell
them to not limit themselves to not
think that there that they can't get it
they can't like they can't do it because
there's always a way and there are so
many opportunities that if they don't
apply then they're gonna miss out on so
much
to think that to just give
up on your dreams because of one problem
it's just as their financial means
it's it's not worth it you know yeah.
Yeah that's something that I didn't know
being a first gen student who had no
idea about graduate school I didn't know
that almost all PhD programs are funded.
Yeah. So if you are talented enough and
you've worked hard enough and you have
the right GPA in the right application
package and you're accepted in most
cases they will offer you funding. Yes.  A
combination of fellowships grants
usually to work as a teacher's assistant
at TA and and that program is
self-funding right you do not have to
pay out of pocket usually for a PhD I
didn't know that and it was such an
eye-opener to me because I learned that
15 years too late right I did my
bachelor's degree and then I got a
teaching certificate and went to teach
high school because I was really focused
on getting a job right and then I taught
and I loved my career but then after
saving money to go to graduate school I
applied and realize that Oh actually
it's going to be funded right and so I I
don't think of those years that I spent
teaching high school at all as a waste
but on the other hand I think it's a
really important message to first gen
undergrads that if they are interested
in graduate school to not think that no
I can't do that.  Yeah. Right that like you
said those options those opportunities
really are out there. Yeah and you I mean
I think you bring up a really good a
really good question of you know first
generation students are not really
educated in this department that you
know a higher education doesn't really
need all the money that you that you
need to have in order to be there and
that's something that a lot of first
generation students don't know and
that's something that I didn't know
myself and that's something I mean I'm
glad that I got to I got to know at the
right time as an undergraduate student
at UC Irvine I'm glad that the resources
that you know UCI offers have
really educated me in this
department as well as others so yeah a lot of
first generation students kind of miss
out on that just because their stress
about other things which are very
important but but like I said before
there's always a way. So let's talk
about succeeding because you're
succeeding here and you have fantastic
future goals and I'm completely
confident that you are going to achieve them right
let's talk about like the nuts and bolts
what does the incoming first gen student
who's facing their first quarter here at
UCI what do they need to do to succeed
here and maybe not just to succeed
academically but to be happy here. In order for
other for first-generation students to
succeed I think they have to come in
with an open mind when you first come in
to any university not just UCI you
are just bombarded with a lot of culture
traditions and just a lot of things and
when you have an open mind when you want
my mentor Monica told me this too when
you trust the pathway that it comes to
you then everything is just going to
flow so it's good for students to come
in with an open mind and know that
everything's going to work out well and
if they do feel stressed out if they do
feel I don't know nervous or if they
feel that they can't deal with something
then there are always resources on
campus there are there to help them grow
and I was just also yeah so my I guess
my advice would be to come with an open mind
to classes you're going
to about to learn the professor's you're
going to meet the people that are going
to need and to also one thing that i
would like to add is to network not
working like build on your networking
skills because that's where you're going
to be able to find jobs you know career
opportunities educational opportunities
in research build on your communication
skills a lot and and if you don't have
those yet formed I mean this campus is
going to offer that to you regardless. So
where are three
places on campus like specific places
specific places that first gen students
can go to learn how to be better
communicators or to meet you know people
who are different from them or where
some of those spaces for opportunities?
Yes so one of the okay so one of them
are the cross cultural center if you go
there there's so many people that come
from various backgrounds and they're so
open-minded into bringing you into their
own culture and teaching you about you
know certain aspects of their culture as
well as their they're so open-minded
need to learning about you and also
integrating who you are and your
background and and yeah and then the
second place would be the Career Center
they offer so many tips on how to write
your resume, your CV which is curriculum
viate,  how to have interviews
they sit down one-on-one with you and
have like mock interviews with you they
tell you what are your good guess like
like you're right, I forgot what I was
going to say, but like your strengths and
your weaknesses they go over everything
and the third place that I would like to
also add would be the Counseling Center for
students to succeed in any campus not
just UCI they should make good use of
the Counseling Center just because we do
get so stressed out and me for example I
have anxiety issues and I have like
sometimes I can't control it and I have
physical symptoms as well like I shake
at times trying really hard the
Counseling Center helps you helps you
grow in that aspect of your stress or if
you have anxiety they go over you know
they go over everything that's making
you feel that way and in addition to
give you so many guides and like
alternative ways to deal with it and and
at the same time they're also
professionals in their field you can
work either with a professional in the
field of psychology counseling
or with the peer educator whom students
may feel more comfortable with because
they're a peer of their age who are going
through the same thing as well so those
are the resources that have really helped
me grow at UCI and that have
helped me not grow at UCI
particular but into my my life into my
real everyday life into my personal life
as well. I think that's really important
right because when you're at University
your life doesn't stop. Yeah. You're still
a person yet you still have feelings
you're still growing and developing
emotionally and you know I'm glad you
raised the question of anxiety or just
kind of mental health emotional
well-being because a lot of students
first gen and non first gen deal with
depression deal with anxiety when
they're at university right and knowing
that there are counseling services here.
Yeah. And just being able to go and
saying to a counselor or a peer educator
I'm depressed or I'm anxious and I'm
stressed and I can't sleep I'm having
insomnia and having someone say well
you're not the only one there's nothing
wrong with you right welcome to one of
the most stressful experiences of your
young life right going to college but
also one of the most wonderful
experiences right so I think that's
really important.  What about the first
gen student who's coming in for their
first quarter and is trying to be
proactive about succeeding academically
because that first quarter is really
hard right. Yes. So many first gen
students come in and through no fault of
their own they make decisions about that
first quarter that make it hard for them
to keep their GPA up right what would
you do differently now that you have
been a student for a few years how would
you handle that first quarter
differently? Um so if I was myself then?
Let's imagine you're entering your first
quarter at UCI what would you do
differently? Oh so many things Oh better
time managed find better time management
skills not procrastinate because that's
a big thing in every college I mean not
even
college students but every student we
tend to procrastinate because you think
that other things are more important
then like submitting an assignment
or is something like that so I better
time management skills learn how to not
procrastinate as well as learn how to
work with peers because something that I
learned from being in a program at UCI
called Summer Academic Enrichment
Program SAEP is uh you should work with
a peer because in a in the career when
when you're so in a professional
environment you are actually working
with others so you're never working with
yourself everything that you want to do
like even if for example policies that
you want to change you actually have to
work with people in order to get what
you want so that's something that I
would have liked to have changed because
I'm the type of person who is really
introverted and I like being by myself
doing things on by myself. You don't like
group work?  No I don't I didn't like
group either when I was an undergrad and
then big surprise you go into the work
world and everything is group work.
Everything is everything has to do with
people coming together and like
brainstorming things and so that's
another thing that I would have worked
on and also have different study skills
because if you like the study skills
that I have built now are so different
than before or my first quarter here UCI
for example um like I said before
I'm really introverted I used to like to
study by myself but actually
working with a group of people helps you
first of all interpret the texts differently
and actually really get to
know what it means because sometimes
when you read something like you have
one idea but someone else has another idea
so you you actually get to brainstorm in
the group setting on top of that you
actually get to get feedbacks and run I
like I said before run ideas
between one another and also see the
type of questions that you have that
other people may also have also have
also it kind of builds your confidence
in a way when you're working with
someone else because you get this whole
range of ideas put together in one room
discussing it and it's it's not only
beneficial to you but to the whole group
as well and to also like your character
builds on your character and your
learning and and there's not I guess
there's not right now to me there's not
much anything better than that then like
really bouncing back ideas and
learning from one another, yeah.
Because I mean you're not only learning
from a professor and also because
classrooms here are like 300 students
and you are not always able to get the
one-on-one connection with the
professor's so by having these group
studies you also get to study you with
other peers and and yeah so those are
those really all the elements that I
would like to have changed my first
quarter.  So any final thoughts or
words of encouragement for incoming
first gen students? I would just say to
like I said before to just really trust the
path that you're in it's going to be
really beneficial to them just to
trust it and then go with it don't look
back you're in a good place as an
undergraduate student you're going to
learn so many things you're going to be
involved in so many things and so many
resources opportunities are going to
come to you and just make really good
use out of it just apply to every every
opportunity that comes your way just get
yourself out there be be someone that
can grow within this environment because
um because there's no other place where
you're going to you're, first
generation students are going to able to
really make really good use out of it
unless they really put themselves out
there and yeah UCI rocks lets just say that
it has helped me in so many ways that
hopefully one day I'll be able to return
the gift that they gave me and as a peer
educator at the Transfer Center
hopefully I'll be able to do that
for new incoming students.
Well I agree with you UCI does
rock. Yes. Thank You Ester. Thank you.
