First Steps for
First-Gen BY KRISTIN EDE
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ike Valenzuela recalls his first day at college many years ago. As he made his way toward the exit sign at his new student orientation at California State University, Long Beach, he felt that he didn’t belong at college. Overwhelmed after walking from table to table for two hours, he turned to make the trip home to Boyle Heights, the Los Angeles neighborhood where
UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE
he grew up. Out of the corner of his eye, he felt someone watching him. “Where I come from, if someone’s watching you, you pay attention,” he said. When he turned, he found a tattooed veterano (veteran) who looked like he could have been one of his uncles. The older man threw his head back and nodded. “In my hood, that was a sign of respect and an invitation to talk to him,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela walked over to the Chicano studies table, where Professor Joe Lopez told him, “Sit down. You’re not going anywhere.” That interaction changed the course of his life. Lopez soon became his mentor, inspiring Valenzuela’s own career-long passion of supporting first-generation students. Valenzuela’s family never expected him to go to college. His father came from a long line of soldiers,
