Navigating college can be challenging for any learner, but first-generation students often face additional academic, financial, and emotional hurdles while pursuing a degree. Four alumni educators share their experiences.
Rudy Duarte ’14 thought working in software development was where he belonged after graduating from Wabash.
After two years of working at tech start-ups, he felt like something was missing.
“I enjoyed software development and was making good money,” says the first-generation college student from Santa Ana, California, “but I believed there was more I could be doing to impact my community.”
Duarte found that calling once he started tutoring kids in Orange County—kids, Duarte explains, who reminded him of his younger self.
“I always told myself I would never go into education because I didn’t want to get students who were like me—I was kind of rowdy,” Duarte says with a laugh. “I did end up getting kids who were just like me, and realized that was a blessing. I was able to understand them because, at one point, I was in their shoes.
“Along with being a tutor, I became a mentor to these kids,” he says. “I told them, ‘Hey, what you’re experiencing is normal, and you might not feel like you belong, but it’s quite the opposite. You have what it takes. You do belong.’”
Duarte ultimately left the software development industry and reconnected with the organization that helped him become the first in his family to earn a college degree: the Nicholas Academic Centers (NAC).
NAC is a nonprofit organization that provides academic support, mentoring, and college success services to underserved high school students in Santa Ana.
Duarte began working for the organization as a college success services coordinator in 2016, then as director of programs from 2018 to 2023, and now serves as NAC’s executive director.
“The NAC changed my life,” says Duarte, a 2010 NAC graduate. “It changed the trajectory of a boy, where he is now a man with a master’s degree from Chapman University, a loving husband, and a positive role model for his two kids. To say this is personal for me is an understatement.”
Duarte was wrapping up his sophomore year in high school when he was approached by two NAC leaders who wanted him to join the program. They boasted free tutoring and activities, free mentorship, free food, and free access to the internet—a luxury he did not have at home.
“They let me know there was a new after-school program that helped students like me go to college,” Duarte recalls. “I remember them asking me if I ever thought about going away for college, and in my 14-year-old mind, the only concept of a college out of the state was something I saw on TV. It was unattainable for me.”
Duarte says pursuing higher education was always in the back of his mind growing up, but he never knew what it looked like.
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” he says, “and before NAC, I didn’t have people I could turn to for answers.
“I figured maybe I would apply to schools nearby like California State University Fullerton, University of California, or Santa Ana College, and just leave it at that,” Duarte continues. “I had no concept of programming, what you should consider when picking a school—nothing. I just understood that those were colleges close to home.”
It’s a trend Duarte says he continues to see among many first-generation college students.
Not only are some students less knowledgeable about how to navigate the resources available to them, such as scholarships and additional financial aid to attend schools out of state, but many often experience guilt and anxiety over leaving their families and possibly their financial responsibilities at home.
“What’s really hard for first-gen students right now—speaking more to my community itself—is being able to view yourself outside of the state and away from your parents,” says Duarte. “The community that we live in is about 90% Hispanic. It’s all these kids have ever known.
“The NAC serves about 200 seniors a year and about 25% of them will end up going to a private liberal arts college—and I actually think that number should be higher,” says Duarte, who discovered Wabash after attending a Colleges That Change Lives college fair with NAC.
“There’s so much value in going away to these schools because you learn so much about yourself and the world when you step outside of your own comfort zone.”
Francisco Huerta ’14, a psychology major and religion and economics double minor from Chicago, says he experienced “growing pains” his first year on campus.
“I went from growing up in a neighborhood that was predominately Spanish-speaking with lots of rich Hispanic traditions to what felt like another world,” says Huerta. “That cultural shock forced me to look and learn outside of my bubble—which I’m ultimately grateful for—but initially I felt sad to no longer be in the comfort of a community I was so used to.”
His coursework was another challenge.
“The rigor is a completely different monster,” says the former National Honor Society member, senior class student council representative, and robotics team captain at Rauner College Prep. “I was a very successful student with strong academics who believed I was prepared and had the right training to do well at Wabash, but that wasn’t my reality.”
The Lilly Scholar had to learn how to study, something he says he never had to do in high school. That meant more than simply reading and rereading texts and notes, he says. Active studying involved analyzing and understanding—not memorizing—materials and being able to form, anticipate, and answer complex questions.
“I am where I am today because I was taught to think critically at Wabash, but it definitely was a struggle at the very beginning,” recalls Huerta. “I remember running into (former) President Patrick White after getting my midterm grades, which were all Cs and a D. He asked me about my grades and I told him how disappointed I was in myself. Here’s someone who is supposed to be well-regarded and academically inclined, and I felt like I wasn’t fulfilling my end of the deal.
“168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 had a heart-to-heart,” he continues. “President White said, ‘You know, this isn’t dissimilar to what I experienced my first semester. I started out with low grades, and look at where I am today.’ I credit that conversation for forcing me to stop feeling sorry for myself. It forced me to change my mindset, to continue to grow and learn, and to think in ways I hadn’t before.”
After Wabash, Huerta joined Teach For America and worked at Hansberry College Prep in Chicago for seven years as a world history teacher. In 2020, the Noble Network of Charter Schools honored him with the prestigious title of Distinguished Teacher. Today, he serves on Noble’s academics team as the manager of assessments and curriculum.
First-generation college students often do not have family members who can provide advice on how to get to and succeed in college. Having a mentor—such as a local community leader, high school and/or college faculty or staff member, or peer adviser—to turn to who has gone through the same experiences can be invaluable.
Barry Tyler ’06, the Indiana director and state team lead for Empower Schools and a School of Hammond City football coach, says mentors can inspire students to achieve their academic, personal, and career goals by helping them develop important skills such as time management, communication, and networking.
“It starts as early as elementary school,” explains Tyler. “The sooner we can help students build stronger connections to their communities and expose them to different careers and the people working in those careers who look like them or walk the same streets as them, the better we aid in their overall long-term development. That identity work is super important.”
Mentors at all levels of education can help build a sense of community and belonging, Tyler adds, which can contribute to a student’s social and emotional well-being.
“Everyone is going to experience some kind of challenge in life, and what sets communities like mine apart—Black and brown communities—is that we don’t always seek out assistance in terms of trying to navigate those challenges,” says Tyler.
“It’s important for youth to know they have somebody they can confide in when they do make a mistake or have this off-the-wall idea they want to explore,” he continues. “Having someone outside of their family who they can talk about life with can make a huge difference for first-gen students.”
Tyler Holmes ’14, assistant principal at 168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网sterville Central 168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 School in Ohio, believes it’s important to surround first-generation students with support early.
“I didn’t have a ton of that and really didn’t know what it meant to be a college student,” he says. “If I had those services wrapping around me in the secondary level, I’m confident my transition from high school to college would have been different.”
Holmes encourages other first-generation students to seek resources early and often throughout their college careers. That includes taking advantage of professors’ office hours and tutoring sessions, as well as Wabash’s Career Services, the Writing Center, the Counseling Center, and Health Services.
Duarte agrees, saying, “It’s about more than just getting the grades.” If students don’t take advantage of all the resources available, they aren’t making the most of their overall college experience.
“There has to be a little bit of hand-holding, though,” Duarte adds. “I understand a lot of times you have to throw people in the deep end, but I think with first-gen students in particular, there has to be intentionality. That could be in the form of advisors physically walking students over to meet with Career Services or a professor checking in with a student, saying, ‘Are you going to the Writing Center?’ and then following up later to see how they are growing and improving.”
Duarte credits his NAC mentors and Wabash faculty and staff members, like Roland Morin ’91, former associate dean for professional development and director of the Center for Innovation, Business, and Entrepreneurship, for holding his hand and helping get him to graduation.
“Roland was caring, honest, and thoroughly believed in me from the start,” says Duarte. “One day I went into his office to vent about life, and he looked at me and asked, ‘Why are you hiding your light? You have so much potential, and you’re hiding. Why are you doing that?’
“I don’t know how, but those words cut right through me, and I started to cry,” Duarte says. “I will never forget that moment. He inspired me to push through to the end.”
He says Morin, who passed away three years ago, shaped him into the leader he is today—one who guides other first-generation college students through challenges and celebrates their successes, both big and small.
“I hear the stories of some of the things students experience, and through all of that adversity, there is a resilience to still go on and succeed,” Duarte says.
“Roland always said, ‘168体育平台下载_足球即时比分-注册|官网 stand on the shoulders of giants, and one day others will stand on your shoulders.’ That’s what I am doing now,” he concludes. “I don’t necessarily see myself as the executive director for the Nicholas Academic Centers. I see myself more as a community leader who wants to make change for other first-generation students. I take Roland’s words and what I have learned at Wabash—our motto and core values—to guide that work every day.”