First Gen College is delighted to welcome Nancy Ma to our team as the Program Outreach Specialist.
She will be reaching out to first gen college students throughout the Los Angeles area to invite them to join us at our upcoming First Gen College Student Retreat on Saturday, October 14 (see flyer below), and to get involved in other ways, as well.
She wanted to share some of her reflections about her experiences as a first gen college student that drew her to this position.
Purple mountains. Rolling greens. Unlimited dining hall food. College couldn’t start soon enough. Then it did start and things went south real fast. I got my first C. I couldn’t keep up with the thousands of pages of reading. I didn’t know where to turn and who would understand because all around everyone else seemed to be doing just fine.
That was my experience as a first generation college student. I didn’t know how to ask
for help, didn’t know I was supposed to ask. I felt like I was failing because I felt like I only had once chance to succeed. It wasn’t till after graduation, years after graduation, that I realized other first generation college students had similar experiences to me. We were all sinking but smiling on the outside.
If only we knew we weren’t alone and that there were resources we could have sought to help with the college experience. This is why I’m so excited to work with First Gen College. I want the opportunity to empower students to succeed in college. I’m here to first learn from current students and second to share the lessons I’ve learned.
Getting into college is a HUGE feat. You’ve already accomplished much, broken new ground for your family. Now let’s work together to fly through college with confidence and community.
We invite you to reach out to Nancy if you have questions about the First Gen College Student Retreat, if you want more information, or if you want her to come to your campus to do outreach. You can reach her at hello@firstgencollege.me or 323-212-6163.
