Can you tell us about your background as a first-generation student?
I am a first-generation college graduate. I grew up very poor. My mother had three kids and two grandkids that she had to take care of. She was washing dishes at a high school and earning $6000 a year. My father was in prison at the time. I had a friend who committed a robbery and my mother sat me down and told me she didn鈥檛 want me to have those problems - she didn鈥檛 want me to go to prison. A classmate named Andrea DuBose told me that there was an admissions recruiter from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at school. I asked my English teacher LaRoyce Beatty if I could go hear what he had to say. The recruiter let me know about different majors and how much of a salary I could make. I figured, 鈥淥kay, I鈥檓 going to go to college.鈥� I thought it would be easy but I had made a 12 on the ACT. Every college I applied to denied my application. One rejection letter stated I could appeal the decision if I wanted to. I worked bussing tables and washing dishes making $3.35 an hour and walking miles to work. A lot of people didn鈥檛 think I was ever going to be admitted to college with my background. I found a big candy apple red dictionary at the library and used it to understand what the word appeal meant and to help me write my appeal letter. In the appeal letter, I talked about inequities and how I grew up in a housing project, my father was incarcerated, and my high school didn鈥檛 offer college prep courses. I didn鈥檛 have a ride to school no matter how the weather was and my peers did. College was not necessarily a part of my world growing up - if you asked me about crime, violence, or poverty, I could have said a whole lot about that stuff. My appeal letter was accepted and they admitted me on probation. Eventually, I went on to do well and go on to earn my master's and Ph.D.
How has being a first-generation student influenced your leadership style now?
I think it鈥檚 provided me with a very realistic experience of some of the barriers and challenges for first-generation students. It has helped me see that there are opportunities for universities to do better with service and meeting their needs. It is my job to help the university write or rethink policies to help. Helping university leaders understand the nuances of students with different backgrounds who may not necessarily know everything there is to know about college is key.
What advice would you give to first-gen students?
Be aware of lasting impressions, you never know if someone seeing you in one situation will end up interviewing you later. Protect your brand.
Remember the 4 D鈥檚: Desire, Dedication, Determination, and Discipline.
Desire - I wanted better for myself and put in the work to do it.
Dedication - I didn鈥檛 decide when it was cold out or if the weather was bad that I couldn鈥檛 go to class. Because if you do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it, the time comes when you can do what you want to do when you want to do it.
Determination - this means you鈥檒l do what it takes to stay in school, whether it鈥檚 picking up a job that you may not want to do (I bussed tables and washed dishes) but it may pay for your books this semester.
Lastly, Discipline - staying on course - don鈥檛 allow distractions to come between you and your goals.
