Trailblazing First-Gens Share Experiences
Many first-generation students arrive at Hamilton through college access program communities, such as Opportunity Programs (OP), Posse, and QuestBridge. Communications Office student writer Alejandro Sosa Hernández ’26 recently interviewed several of our first-gens to get their thoughts on being college trailblazers.
What does it mean to you to be a first-gen student?
I am a trailblazer. I’m the first in my family to pursue a better future for myself, my community, and family.
How does the Hamilton community support you?
As an Opportunity Program scholar, I am connected to people who desire to see my hard work come to fruition. Aaron Ray, Kate Mullen, Brenda Davis, among so many others, are central to this support system that OP and Hamilton have provided me with.
What transformative experiences have you had as a college student?
Realizing that my lived experiences and identity are a resource for the classroom and workplace. I bring a different perspective to the table, and that is intrinsically transformative to know.
What have you learned about yourself at Hamilton?
My voice, ideas, and outlooks matter, and Hamilton is the perfect place to make them shine through.
What are you most proud of?
Standing up for what I hold to be true and embracing every challenge that comes my way.
Hometown: Mission, Texas
What does it mean to you to be a first-gen student?
To me, being first-gen means becoming a bridge between the privileges and knowledge within the academic community and the wisdom and warmth of my family and home community.
How does the Hamilton community support you?
The Opportunity Program, ALEX advising, and first-gen faculty on campus have helped me navigate different challenges as a first-generation student. Specifically going to a first-gen professor’s office hours and sharing about similar challenges in our journeys empowered me to see that I could succeed in academia early on at Hamilton.
What transformative experiences have you had as a college student?
Going to the annual first-gen conference at Wellesley College this year was very transformational for me. I met many inspiring people who interpreted the opportunities, challenges, and responsibility of being first-generation very positively and made life-altering improvements in their home communities and within their own life trajectories. They inspired me to tell my own complicated story and feel empowered by it to step up as a leader and ask for help when I need it.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud about being able to study abroad during my time at Hamilton. Being able to live in a foreign country, learn new customs, and create a social identity for myself in a different language is something I never imagined I had the power or opportunity to do. I have loved sharing my experiences with the Hamilton community, and I can’t wait to go home and share my experiences with my family.
“Going to a first-gen professor鈥檚 office hours and sharing about similar challenges in our journeys empowered me to see that I could succeed in academia early on at Hamilton.
What does it mean to you to be a first-gen student?
To me, being first-gen means being recognized for the number of obstacles you navigated in order to get to where you are. It’s an incredibly valuable category to me because it recognizes individuals not through color, race, ethnicity, gender, or any social marker, but for the fact that each and every individual navigated their own unique environment, and the story told is never the same as another first-gen student.
What transformative experiences have you had?
My freshman year was truly a transformative experience in and of itself. I don’t think this is a uniquely first-gen experience, but it’s certainly intensified by being one. By virtue of that label, I believe that there’s a challenge in navigating your first year in college without anybody in your family to pass guidance down to you at difficult times.
What have you learned about yourself at Hamilton?
As lucky as I am to be the first in my family to go to college, I simultaneously recognize my privilege to have been offered an education like this. I think, too, that it’s not a worthwhile endeavor to speak on what privilege is earned or handed down, but rather your responsibility in not permitting this privilege to dictate how you treat others.
Hometown: Mohawk, N.Y.
How does the Hamilton community support you as a first-gen student?
I have been a part of the COOP (Community Outreach & Opportunity Project) since my freshman year, which has allowed me to contribute to several sites in my local community. Being able to work alongside people interested in nonprofit organizations has been crucial to my first-gen experience, especially because it has broadened my career ambitions beyond STEM.
What have you learned about yourself at Hamilton?
Since being at Hamilton, I’ve learned that it’s not the individual grades, but rather the portfolio of experiences that I should be proud of. I try to focus on broadening my scope rather than dwelling on the grades I get, which makes taking challenging courses feel worthwhile.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of my ability to jump into things blind and feel successful. Being first-gen and switching from humanities to STEM are just some of the things where I feel I’ve come in with no knowledge and gained fantastic experiences I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t take risks.
“Since being at Hamilton, I鈥檝e learned that it鈥檚 not the individual grades, but rather the portfolio of experiences that I should be proud of.
Hometown: Houston, Texas
What does it mean to you to be a first-gen student?
Being first-gen helps me navigate college not only for myself, but also for my little cousins, nieces, and nephews. It makes me feel very proud and content to be a model for my family.
How does the Hamilton community support you?
I feel very supported by Aaron Ray and Brenda Davis in OP and Kris Kusnerik, assistant professor of geosciences. They always meet me where I am and always seem to understand me. I know I can count on them at all times.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my contribution to activism, programming, and organization in BLSU, Geological Society, and OP on campus. I’m also proud of myself for resting and taking the time to nurture my soul and self.
What does it mean to you to be a first-gen student?
Being a first-generation college student means carrying around the weight of expectation that so many who fought for my opportunity to receive an education have for me. It’s a constant source of inspiration and motivation because I’m not just going to school for myself, I’m going for my family that immigrated here and worked tirelessly so that I could focus on going to school and daring to dream of living a brighter future.
How does the Hamilton community support you?
Within 91制片厂, the Next-Gen Pre-Health Professionals initiative has created a sense of community for me — filled with peers who share the same experience, I’m never underresourced when it comes to a constant source of inspiration and motivation because we all make sure to support one another. Peers like Beau Sinardo ’26, Sa Kay Da ’26, and Elise Kwon ’26 consistently check up on my progress and development within my introductory-level STEM courses and find the best ways to support me because they understand the difficult learning curve that many first-gen students go through in college.
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