Carla Hernández started elementary school two days after arriving in the United States, unable to speak English.

Genavee Gonzales was taken away from her mother at seven years old, her father having been in prison since she was a child, and placed in the guardianship of her grandmother.

Jesus Ruiz comes from a family of eight. For his family back in Mexico, it was either start working or starve.

Michael Matney was hooked on drugs and alcohol, and in and out of jail and later prison.

Donovan Harwell graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA and ended up dropping out of community college in Hawaii after failing every class he took there.

The similarities between them? All five are students or graduates of Colorado Mesa University (CMU), the first in their respective families to attend college.

Hernández

“Senior year (of high school) I didn’t know what I was going to do, because my dad was only able to go to third grade, because he had to become a farmer, and help my family,” Hernández said. Her mother and sister were only able to finish up to sixth grade.

Her senior year of high school, she had a counselor that she considered herself blessed to have, as the counselor pushed her to apply to college. “[…] That wasn’t even part of my life, I was just planning on going to work, cause that’s what’s part of my family,” Hernández said.

She applied to universities and colleges, and was accepted to all that she applied for. Her afternoons in high school were spent writing essays and applying for scholarships, up to six hours per day. “[…] Three years later, I’m here in front of you guys, [taking] a Spanish degree because I want to be a teacher,” Hernández said.

Gonzales

Gonzales kept her mind off of family problems growing up by indulging in school and extracurriculars, including cheerleading, spelling bees and reading. “Growing up, school and college, that was never a topic in my household. I started working at 15 years old, I was working 38-40 hours a week while going to school [and doing extracurriculars],” Gonzales said.

She considered dropping out of high school her senior year to take care of her sister and grandmother. Her counselors in high school pushed her to apply to colleges. Her grandmother and sister improved their situations, which motivated Gonzales to apply.

“The happiest moment of my life was when I got a call from CMU telling me that they wanted to give me a $25,000 scholarship. And I broke down in the middle of our school hallway and just cried, because I realized that I was going to be the first one in my family to set this path,” Gonzales said. “And I just remember calling my grandma and telling her and she was screaming, and she was so happy, I told my sister and she came and gave me a big hug when I got home.”

She is currently majoring in Nursing with a minor in Spanish at CMU. “My first year I really struggled because I felt like everybody had their lives together, but I really didn’t know what was going on. [I] had to figure out everything out by [myself], and I feel like that’s what being a first generation student means, getting the courage to go through all of this [alone],” Gonzales said.

Ruiz

“My brothers raised me throughout my freshman year of high school through my senior year, and if it wasn’t for them I honestly don’t know what I would’ve ended up as,” Ruiz said.

He was offered a full ride scholarship to CMU, a shock because a month before high school graduation, he wasn’t even thinking about college.

Ruiz came into CMU as a construction manager major, but ended up changing his major to graphic design.

“[…] It’s amazing to me that I went from not knowing that college was an option to doing what I want to do and just being able to continue educating myself and knowing that I have a better future in front of me,” Ruiz said.

Matney

Matney is originally from Durango. He served time at the Department of Corrections in Buena Vista and Canyon City. “School was never an option, I never thought I was smart enough for school. When I was locked up I started reading about dyslexia and ways to combat it and ways to go about it.”

He figured education was what he needed to give himself an actual change in life, and CMU accepted him. “Out of all the kids, the one that never once graduated [and] hated school, is actually graduating with a bachelor’s degree from [CMU].

Matney struggled at first coming to college. “I didn’t know how to turn on a computer, D2L scared the hell out of me. But I got […] comfortable, and going and talking to the faculty and Trio is such a great help […] The lowest grade since I’ve been here is a C. I’ve made the President’s List three times and the Dean’s list twice, so you can’t tell me you can’t do it […] I mean, if I can, you can.”

Harwell

Harwell was born and raised in Salt Lake, a neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. He was studious until he got to high school, and later community college. On a whim, his friend, Nainoa Coelho-Lopes, came back to visit, who was attending CMU.

Coelho-Lopes recommended Harwell move to Grand Junction, a foreign prospect to Harwell, who had only ever left Hawaii twice. Coelho-Lopes currently works as a Resident Hall Coordinator at CMU.

“I got here and really like so many others, I just met a bunch of amazing people. [Breanne] and Jared Meier were one of the first ones to help me out, like they do with everyone from Hawaii. And something just switched […] I just was forced to like introduce myself to people and get to know things […] I knew failing was not an option here.”

Harwell graduated this past spring with an undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management, and currently works as a Professional Staff Assistant in the President’s office. “The moral of my story is that if you have any inclination to do anything, like a personal hobby, go to college or anything, just try, because you’ll learn a whole lot more doing something than not doing something.”