first generation

A photo from the hips down of a person holding a backpack and wearing sneakers. They're standing on a concrete sidewalk with a brick walk behind them.

Community College, Beyond the Bias

My path was hardly the “traditional” college student’s story.

An illustration of a colorful board-game path winding through various words and phrases like mental health, build a network, get advice.

What I Wish I Knew as a First-Generation Biology Student

The culmination of my four years at university left me with one piece of paper, and I felt robbed.

Lorena standing in the desert in Berrendo with tools around her belt and a hat to protect her from the sun.

Becoming the woman I want to become through love and science

I will be the first member in my family to earn a PhD degree. However, graduate school was not in my parents’ plans when they enrolled me in an excellent, yet expensive, private school in Mexico City.