Finding My Community

It can be hard to make friends in college. It can be even harder when you start college online. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my LEAD Week experience four years ago was half online and half in-person. The first half was spent listening to presentations from the Office of Multicultural Learning, the Rainbow Resource Center, and other on-campus organizations via Zoom. Although I don’t remember much from these presentations, one person specifically made my week. 

Scanning the grid of new faces on my screen, I noticed a familiar Harry Styles poster on a wall behind a girl. I decided to take a chance and privately message her that I loved her poster. She immediately responded that she loved my SZA poster as well. 

After chatting on Zoom, we finally met in-person at one of the first LEAD Week dinners. Our conversations felt natural. We talked more about music and what concerts we wanted to go to. When I asked her where she was from, I learned we grew up near each other in south San Jose the whole time, and we had no idea until we arrived at SCU.  

My friendship with Sam was the first time the LEAD Scholars Program helped me feel at home at Santa Clara, but it certainly wasn’t the last. 

My parents are originally from Michoacán, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States when they were young. My father graduated from high school but couldn’t attend college due to his immigration status. As a result, my education was extremely important and college was not just an option, but expected. 

My parents have sacrificed a lot to make this happen. I received privileges that others do not have. I attended Cristo Rey San Jose High School and they introduced me to a Jesuit education. I also received a scholarship—the Cristo Rey Endowed Scholarship—which pays for my college education. These are all amazing things, but these privileges came with pressures once I got to Santa Clara.

Despite receiving great advice from mentors and older family members, nothing could have prepared me for college. Everything was new: registering for classes, buying books, standing my ground during heated classroom debates. I didn’t have the confidence I needed. 

As a result, I felt very isolated during my first few months on campus. I remember reaching out to Evelyn, my LEAD Peer Mentor, for help. In our meeting, I confided in her that I was struggling to keep up and felt like I didn’t belong. 

As a political science major at the time, it seemed like everyone else had family in politics or knew the professors before they even stepped foot in class. I compared myself to others who seemed like they weren’t struggling and felt stupid. It seemed like everyone already had goals for their future and I was still learning things from scratch. It was suffocating. 

Evelyn sat and listened to me. She said it was completely normal and valid to feel this way. She taught me about imposter syndrome and how, when she was a freshman, she also struggled with the same thoughts. She encouraged me to branch out and get involved on campus like she did. 

After doing what she advised, I found a whole community of students who had experienced similar anxieties and doubts. Through groups like Hermanas Unidas and the Undocumented Students and Allies Association, I found solidarity and opportunities to grow my leadership skills. While not every first-gen experience is the same, meeting other first-gen students helped me face my own struggles. 

Having a mentor like Evelyn, I’ve tried to give back to LEAD in the best way I know, by serving as a peer mentor for my students throughout the school year.

I take being a peer mentor seriously. Just as Evelyn was to me, I want to be someone that people can rely on. I’m an introverted person and mentorship didn’t come naturally, so I always remind myself how Evelyn made time for me, despite her busy schedule. She checked in with me. She listened. 

This year I have six students assigned to me as a Peer Mentor, but my network is even bigger. I still keep in touch with my old mentees through text and seeing them on campus. For me, being a mentor has made me a better version of myself.

I enjoyed this experience so much that I also became a mentor for another four college students from East San Jose through the Latino Education Advancement Foundation (LEAF). 

As I enter my final year at Santa Clara, I look back at the experiences I’ve had with LEAD and all the support they provided with so much gratitude. I want people to understand the impact it's made on me and how it helps so many feel seen. Today, I’m an English and Communications double major. I work in a leadership role with the Undocumented Students and Allies Association and I also write articles for University Marketing and Communications at Santa Clara. 

None of this would’ve been possible without the people of LEAD. To put it simply, they are my community. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to the LEAD Staff and my fellow LEAD students/friends, I have met along the way! Shout out to Samantha Campos ’25 (aka Sam) who became my first friend at SCU and in LEAD. I couldn’t have done it without all of you!