Sandra Barojas Renteria

Being a First-Generation student, coming from a Mexican background, the only thing I knew was that I was the first in my family to graduate high school and go to an “adult school,” college. I had no idea what to expect and I couldn’t turn to my parents for guidance because all I would get was a big smile full of pride. When they would smile I knew exactly what they were going to say “echale ganas mija, tu puedes con todo.” In other words, I was on my own.

One thing that I am grateful for is EOP. EOP helped me figure my way through college. As a Freshman, we had monthly appointments to meet with your advisor where they would mentor us. That definitely was beneficial for me because I was learning the class requirements, how to choose classes, where to go when needing assistance with adding classes, and so forth.

I feel that EOP has helped me by providing financial assistance as well as giving me a sense of stability with the campus. I know that if I didn’t receive the guidance of the advisors I would have not known what to do on my own. Something valuable that I learned from this program is to always ask questions, no matter if I “thought” it was a dumb question. Being a student with no knowledge of what college consisted of, I constantly had questions but was scared to be frowned upon by my peers. Having someone to verify that it was okay to ask questions made me become more outspoken with my professors.

Something I would advise to future EOP students is to take advantage of the things the program offers. In addition, I would say to voice your opinion of what you like and dislike about the program because the program is there to guide you through the transition of high school to college and to assist in any way possible.