What led you to pursue a higher education in STEM? My parents are low-income agricultural workers and have always pushed the value of a traditional education. My education is simultaneously a love letter to my parents and a tool for revolutionary change. With higher education, I can help with yet-to-be understood knowledge about biology to […]
What lab are you a part of, and what kind of research do you do? I am a part of the Vaske lab. Our lab is committed to researching ways of improving the treatment and diagnosis of pediatric cancers through using RNA-sequencing analysis. My research specifically, is working on analyzing the gene expression of a […]
https://news.ucsc.edu/2023/07/nsf-recipient-reflects-on-successes.html?utm_source=08-08-2023&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tuesday-newsday
Jara, 21, is the first in his family to attend a four-year college… He admits to some doubts that first year, feeling engineering wasn’t what he wanted to do. But a friend he met playing basketball “kept on motivating me to stay, and I’m happy I stayed.”
“I wanted to be in an environment where I could motivate and help other people in underrepresented groups to reach their potential,” Ascencio said. “That’s what the research lab and STEM Diversity were doing for me.”
“Having a community of other like-minded students is so important. It helps you succeed throughout school and beyond school as well,” she said. “Having the mentors I had in MEP and STEM diversity—helpful and supportive mentors—really made a difference.”
Ariqat, a first-generation college student, hoped for a new beginning at UC Santa Cruz, which she attended in part because “I felt like I could be who I was,” she said. “My first year of college I was excited when I was placed in Oakes and saw that there were many students who looked like me, pursuing a degree in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics].”
Sanchez arrived at UC Santa Cruz with a passion for scientific exploration, but adjusting to college life was a challenge. A first-generation college student, he could not turn to his parents for advice about coping and thriving at a university.
