2020 College Report

Teir parents, who had immigrated from Mexico, did not “Two other students and I chose homelessness and F i r s t gen / N e x t gen stor i es Luis is a principal product designer who works for H-E-B he says. “I found Texas State, one of the best in the nation NAME HERE, First Generation Student DANIELLA CARRERA First Generation College Student attend college, but for Daniella and her three siblings college was always part of the conversation in their Houston home. “Tey wanted us to have a better life,” she says, “and they believed college was how you open doors for that.” She came to Texas State without an idea of a major – she was interested in almost everything she could learn. In high school a teacher showed her that literature can open doors to other cultures, that written works chronicle old and new thinking – ideas that fascinated Daniella. Tat teacher and some others were Texas State graduates, so Daniella looked toward San Marcos for college – far enough away from home, but not too far. Since she brought her wide range of interests to campus in 2018, Daniella has been introduced to even more possibilities. A sociology teacher sent an email to students about an undergraduate research program called iSchool Inclusion Institute that sounded interesting to her. It required a transcript, three recommendations and essays. “I told myself, ‘hey, I’ve got those. Why not apply?’” she remembers. Turns out she was one of 20 students across the country – and the only one from Texas – selected. And of she went for a month in the summer of 2019 to the University of Pittsburgh with no real idea of what to expect. Te aim of the intense program is to prepare students for a year of study, teaching them how to use every tool in the research arsenal and then apply them to an area of their choice. movement patterns – how do people become homeless, misconceptions about it, how can we prevent it?” During her second year at Texas State, Daniella participated in the National Student Exchange ofered at Texas State, a program that sends students to another university to study for a semester. Te fall of 2019 took Daniella to Queens College, part of the City University of New York system, chosen by her because of a combined journalism and sociology degree plan, two areas that had become her focus. While in New York City, she met Polo Sandoval, a 2007 Texas State mass comm graduate and now a CNN correspondent, who showed her around the network’s headquarters and discussed with her how news is researched and reported. “Tese experiences showed me that I love writing,” she says, “and that’s where I want to focus a career.” She immediately applied for and got a position as a news reporter for the University Star . With her major in journalism and minors in sociology and Latina/o studies, after only three years, Daniella will graduate in May 2021, when doors will no doubt continue to open for her. ■ - Written by T.Cay Rowe LUIS GUTIERREZ First Generation College Student Digital in Austin. Tat means that he and his team designed the My H-E-B app we use to order our groceries, then pick them up curbside or have them delivered at a time we choose. Pretty handy to have when the coronavirus hit Texas. “We had a soft launch of the app in December,” he says, “with our full marketing coming during the Super Bowl this year. Our timing was fortunate as it turned out.” Luis’ opportunity at H-E-B is the kind of thing his parents told him and his three siblings to seize if they wanted them. His dad is a welder, and his mom, a homemaker and cafeteria worker. Tey immigrated from Mexico as teenagers. “Tey came here for better lives and instilled in us kids the importance of taking advantage of opportunities they didn’t have.” Another of those opportunities was college. Reared in Port Arthur, Luis realized after high school that his hometown didn’t ofer the opportunities he sought. He was a creative child, he says, but did not think he could be creative for a living. He was good at math, too, so he started college in Beaumont as an accounting major. “I quickly discovered that was not my calling, so I tried engineering. I could do both of those, but I had no passion for them.” All along, Luis had nursed his hobby of designing websites and logos. “I realized that was my passion and decided to look for a university where I could prepare myself for a career in it,” at comm design. All around me were people who shared my passion. Tose were the best years of life – so far!” He graduated in 2009 with the tools he needed for the present and for the future in a rapidly changing industry. His frst job was an Austin start-up that was one of the frst agencies creating mobile apps. He quickly rose to art director, designing more than 100 apps his frst year. When he left four years later, Mutual Mobile had grown to 300 employees. After another agency, Luis was recruited to Snap Kitchen, preparer of fresh meals for delivery or take-out. “Tey were launching their frst website and smart phone app to order food digitally. Tat’s now half of their business. I loved the work, but when the VP of product was recruited to H-E-B, she took me with her.” Luis dived into the challenge of capturing digitally the pride and service of the community-oriented, Texas-based grocery company. He is proud of the results, but he likes the app for a personal reason, as well: “My parents could fnally understand what it is I do for a living!” ■ - Written by T.Cay Rowe 34 . COLLEGE REPORT 2020 F i r s t gen / N e x t gen . 35