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First-Gen Community Celebration JUNE 2020
Class of 2020 Brittany Bargers Alli Botelho Addi Daisley Adilenne Espindola Yahya Gahbiche Annie Gordon Kauser Gwaduri Steffi Huynh Jess Juanich Justin Koochof Chhavi Mehra Michel Mugisha
Jessica Olarti Samantha Penjaraenwatana Alyssa Pereira Jemimah Razalan Stephanie Sanchez Michelle Annelynn Soledad Christina Suarez J.Anthony Tedpahogo Hazel Thu Tran Kenton Westerfield Erick Yanzon
Celebrating You As we celebrate our community’s accomplishments, I reflect back on my first-gen path through higher education. When I started here at Seattle U, I didn’t know if any of my friends were first-gen. It didn’t come up in conversation. I heard the term "first-gen" sometime my junior year, and I could finally describe what I was experiencing. While the big goal was graduation, I felt like getting to the end of each academic year needed to be celebrated too. Each year, I survived late night study sessions, balancing family and college expectations, the loneliness, and figuring out financial aid. Graduation arrived, and it felt real. I was the first in my family to receieve a degree. I was grateful to be celebrating with the people who helped me get there. I felt like we did it. Receiving my bachelor’s degree was just the beginning of a lifelong journey through education. I had been accepted to a master’s program, and I took pride in being the first to also pursue a master’s degree. My graduate experience was no different - my community is the reason I am a first-gen masters graduate. Think about the village of people who have helped you blaze your trail through higher education. May our hearts be filled with gratitude as we celebrate our whole first-gen community - those who have completed another year and the class of 2020. Graduates, it is an honor to welcome you to the Seattle U first-gen alumni family. We celebrate you now and look forward to celebrating you in October. Gretchenrae Campera, M.Ed.
Assistant Director, Student Success & Outreach
IMPRINT Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience
CONTRIBUTORS
COMMITTEE
Alli Botelho Mariah Fernandez Kal Green Yvette Gutierrez-Morfin Dalena Le Chhavi Mehra Carlos Moreno Vega Samantha Penjaraenwatana Guillermo Sandoval Khuong "Teddy" Vo
Gretchenrae Campera Yvette Gutierrez-Morfin De'Andre Jones Jemimah Razalan Samantha Penjaraenwatana
Imprint is a compilation of creative writing and scholarly work from Seattle University’s first-generation college community. Imprint is produced annually and released in the Spring Quarter. A committee of staff, faculty, and students mentor our selected contributors through the creative process. Find all editions at www.tinyurl.com/imprintSU
BRITTANY BARGERS She/Her/Hers
Bachelors, Psychology & Spanish
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to receive a degree and find my passion. I am also thankful for all the amazing people I have met and received support from throughout the whole experience.
ADDI DAISLEY She/Her/Hers M.Ed., Clinical Mental Health Counseling
ALLI BOTELHO
ADILENNE ESPINDOLA
She/Her/Hers
When I think about my grad school experience, I know that I would not be here without the people in my life. Thank you so much to my parents who support and encourage me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to my colleagues who have provided me with a home and the students who continuously inspire me to do more. Thank you to my family, friends, partner, mentors, and community from all over the world who have supported me throughout this journey. This degree is for all of you!
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
I'm thankful Seattle University recognizes first-gen students. This didn't happen at my undergraduate university. Accomplishing a Master's Degree was something I never dreamed of as a child. I did this with the support of the family I built myself.. my loving husband and two daughters.
First and foremost, I am thankful for the Lord who has always provided and whom has been with me through every journey. I am thankful for my parents; Agustin and Martha Villanueva. Thank you for always believing in me and supporting my dreams! I am thankful for my husband; Jose Espindola. My love, thank you so much for all of the love and encouragement that you have provided over the years. Lastly, I am beyond grateful for all of the wonderful peers, mentors, and colleagues that I have gained through my higher education journey.
She/Her/Hers
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
YAHYA GAHBICHE
KAUSER GWADURI
He/Him/His
She/Her/Hers
I am grateful for my communities at Seattle U (International Student Center, Student Development Division, and Student Development Administration community), as well as my family, my friends, roommate, and everyone in between!
I'm grateful for the great community of people at SU. Everyone I met here has been very supportive and friendly. I'm grateful for my parents who made it possible for me to study abroad and attend SU.
Bachelors, Business Analytics
ANNIE GORDON She/Her/Hers
My heart is so full of gratitude to so many. I think of my family, friends and partner who have all supported me so unconditionally. I am so thankful for the mentors and professors- Dr. Yamamura, Erin Swezey, Dr. Nguyen and Gretchenrae Campera, who worked creatively with me to figure out how to reconcile my first gen tensions and include my authentic self and my family in my work.
M.A., Student Development Administration
M.Ed., Student Development Administration I wouldn't have been able to accomplish so much if it weren't for the support of my family, partner, friends, supervisors, and professional mentors, as well as the faculty and peers in my graduate program. Through all the ups and downs in graduate school, I could always rely on my support system to keep me motivated to move forward. With that, it's really an honor to be a first-gen student and be the first in my family to obtain a Master's degree! I truly wouldn't be who I am or where I am without my community.
STEFFI HUYNH She/Her/Hers
M.A., Student Development Administration
JESS JUANICH
CHHAVI MEHRA
He/Him/His
She/Her/Hers
I would like to thank my faculty, friends, staff, and administration who have played a significant role in my personal growth and professional development. Grateful for the experiences I've made, relationships I've strengthened, and support that has kept me going these past four years!
Bachelors, Public Affairs & Political Science
Bachelors, Communication & Media Studies, Specialization in Journalism
I am grateful to all those who’ve crossed my path and helped me grow. My Alfie Scholars family has taught me to lead with civility and practice kindness and compassion towards others. The Outreach Center has helped me discover my first-gen identity and encouraged me to tell my first-gen story. I am grateful to my professors who’ve gone the extra mile to see me succeed. Thanks to my friends and family who’ve believed in me, and a big shout-out to my mom, THE strongest pillar in my life whose unconditional love and support has shaped the woman I am today.
JUSTIN KOOCHOF
MICHEL MUGISHA
He/Him/His
I am so grateful to all of the Costco Scholarship Foundation donors and all of those beneficiaries at Seattle University who financially helped me along the way. I thank my parents and all of those before me who allowed me to achieve such an accomplishment.
He/Him/His
I want to give big thanks to family friends and all my mentors, my Alfie family for the support. Without everyone's help that I have gotten, I wouldn’t have made it.
Bachelors, Marketing & Spanish
Bachelors, Computer Engineering
JESSICA OLARTI
ALYSSA PEREIRA
She/Her/Hers
She/Her/Hers
I am grateful for the many people who have become mentors and friends to me. As first-gen students, we often feel like we have to figure everything out on our own, but I was able to find people who were willing to guide me throughout my career at Seattle U.
Bachelors, Accounting
SAMANTHA PENJARAENWATANA
I am grateful for my family who constantly supports me, my friends who I met at SU, and the folks in the International Student Center who became my SU family. I would not have been able to do it without them!
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
JEMIMAH RAZALAN She/Her/Hers
She/Her/Hers
I am very grateful for everyone that has supported my journey to earning my master's degree. I dedicate this degree to my community - my family, partner, friends, mentors, and students who have encouraged me to stay persistent. From First-Gen Week to the First-Gen Community Celebration, and everything in-between, I am forever grateful for the opportunity to support the first-gen population at Seattle University.
I am grateful for the numerous support and the warm hospitality from SU students, faculty, and staff throughout my academic journey.
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
STEPHANIE SANCHEZ
CHRISTINA SUAREZ She/Her/Hers
She/Her/Hers
I am so thankful for my time at Seattle University! The Student Development Administration (SDA) program has truly provided space for me to reflect on who I am as a person, scholar, leader and professional. I am where I am today because of my family, students, my undergraduate and graduate mentors as well as the SDA faculty. I am so grateful for each and every person who has been a part of my journey!
Grateful to God for all he has done and all the amazing opportunities he has provided. Grateful for the Alfies and the nursing program. Grateful for all the new friendship and the many memories we created. As a mother, I grateful for my children and the legacy I am creating for them and my supportive husband I couldn’t have done it without...
Bachelors, Nursing I am beyond thankful for my parents, my grandparents, and all those who came before me that have sacrificed so much to provide me with the opportunities I have today. I'm grateful for my family both in the US and in the Philippines for supporting me and inspiring me to always strive for success and happiness. I’m grateful for UFC for being my home at SU and for challenging me to be a stronger leader. I'm also grateful for my mentors and fellow first-gen friends who have constantly shared words of encouragement and have empowered me to be the woman I am today.
MICHELLE ANNELYNN SOLEDAD
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
J.ANTHONY TEDPAHOGO He/Him/His
She/Her/Hers
Thankful for my family, friends, and my SU community of professors and peers for all the support throughout my time as a undergrad. Looking forward to what the future holds for the class of 2020, the world is ours!
Bachelors, Biology; Minor in Chemistry
Bachelors, Communication & Media, Journalism
ERICK YANZON
They/Them/Theirs
HAZEL THU TRAN She/Her/Hers Bachelors, Biochemistry
I would want to say that I’m so thankful for everything that happened and all the support that I have every received from people around me. I would never make it myself without all my teachers, friends, and my coworkers at Seattle University.
I am thankful for the community of mentors, friends, colleagues and family that got me to where I am today. This degree is for those who didn’t fit in the mold of higher education.
Thank you for being a part of my journey.
I am most grateful for: 1) My family, who I somehow grew immeasurably closer with by moving 1000 miles away from home, 2) my close friends and SUSDA community, who were my rocks throughout my time as a grad student, and 3) the SDA Faculty who helped me to succeed despite difficult circumstances throughout the past three years. They have all been integral parts of my experience and I would not be where I am today without them!
KENTON WESTERFIELD
M.Ed., Student Development Administration
They/Them/Theirs
Congrats, Class of 2020! M.Ed., Student Development Administration
Join our First-Generation College Alumni LinkedIn Group https://tinyurl.com/firstgenalumni
The Career Engagement Office Team congratulates you, our graduating first- generation students, on your graduation this spring! We are so proud of the hard work and dedication you have shown over your time at SU. We are excited to stay connected as you move into your next chapter as SU alumni. Look for an invitation in the next few weeks to join Redhawk Landing, where you can tap into the power of the Redhawk alumni network. Career coaching appointments are available to you through the next year, and there are many other online career resources and programs to check out in the coming weeks, no matter your post-graduate plans and interests. For more information, visit the Career Engagement Office website.