Can you please provide information about your university, your year of study, and your major?

I am a junior at Harvard University studying Government (with a concentration in Law and Justice) and Economics

How did your time at P-TECH prepare you for higher education and contribute to your current experience at an Ivy League institution?

In many ways, P-TECH prepared me for the style of learning that I am receiving at Harvard in ways that a “traditional” high school experience would not have. In particular, there were classes—such as Ms. King’s HIS 122 and Professor Raburn’s CIS 243—that introduced me to the world of seminars, essay writing, and problem sets more than any other high school class did. Starting my first year at Harvard was extremely daunting for many reasons, namely the rigor of the courses and the move across the country, but while there were heightened expectations and higher levels of difficulty across the liberal arts curriculum, I did not feel at a complete loss when adjusting to this new style of learning because of my previous exposure to college courses. I am very thankful to the P-TECH program and to all the teachers and staff I encountered over my four years at Skyline High School, as obtaining an Associate degree while in high school is an asset that not many people our age have; it is almost unheard of even at a school like Harvard.

Can you give us a brief summary of your P-TECH experience at Falcon Tech?

Over the summer between 8th grade and 9th grade, I worried about the challenges that starting high school and college at the same time would bring, but all my worries were eased on the first day when I walked into CIS 118—my first high school and college class—with Toni Hoehn. Ms. Hoehn was extremely welcoming and reassured all her students that even though we were taking a college class, she would be there to support us every step of the way. With her help, almost all students aced the class and it was this accomplishment that gave me the confidence boost I needed to know that I could make it through the P-TECH program. This trend continued as I progressed through the program. I felt extremely supported by instructors like Debbie Telfer, Ed Polak, and Jeff Lund since they always went above and beyond for their students even outside of school hours.

One of the most unique features of the Falcon Tech program that helped me be successful is that I got to know all the students in my cohort very well. By going through classes together, we were able to help each other with homework assignments and projects, and experiencing our first college class or participating in our summer internship together is something that I still cherish to this day. In essence, Falcon Tech is like a family and the program works well because everyone involved is invested in the success of the students and the program as a whole.

As a first-generation college attendee, what challenges did you encounter during your transition from high school to an Ivy League university?

As much as dual enrollment, honors, and AP courses pre-exposed me to what it is like to learn in a college classroom, I still felt slightly overwhelmed when I transitioned to college. Suddenly I had to complete between 100-200 pages of reading per class per week while keeping up with lectures, discussion seminars, etc. The concept of office hours was also new to me. Although in high school I always made sure to clarify any doubts I had with my teachers either after class, during lunch, or after school, the assignments I need to complete are structured in a way that encourages collaboration and asking questions, both of which largely take place during office hours. This is all to say that as a first-generation college student, I did not start college with an exact idea of how to succeed. Harvard is filled with people who went to expensive boarding schools or elite private schools that teach students about the college office hours model from an early age. So, because I did not attend an elite private high school or have parents or older siblings that attended a prestigious university, I had to learn to adapt to this new environment and adjust the way I was approaching my classes. It took me some time, but I eventually learned how to read more efficiently, for example, and take advantage of the help my instructors and peers provided.

What advice would you offer to other first-generation college students who aspire to attend a prestigious university?

If you do not at least try, that is the only scenario in which you are 100% guaranteed not to get into a prestigious university. With their outrageously-high acceptance rates and high levels of competition, it may seem near impossible to attend elite universities, but what truly matters is putting your best foot forward and trying. I, too, faced this fear of rejection as I was applying but what helped me tremendously was the support of my teachers, family, and friends. Ms. Louise March, in particular, never doubted me or my ability to get accepted into one of these schools and to this day, she is one of the few people that I know is always in my corner rooting for me to succeed. So to anyone that is even remotely considering applying, my advice would be to do it. You do not want to look back at your high school years and wonder what could have happened if you had just tried. And do not let your fear of failure or potential imposter syndrome get in the way of applying either. During my first semester, I felt this added pressure to produce extremely high-quality work from the get-go because everyone expects students at these institutions to do great things. At first, this was intimidating and it made me question myself whenever I did not get a perfect score on an assignment or a test because I thought that everyone else was—the infamous imposter syndrome. But in time I also realized that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and the beauty of going to a liberal arts college is that I get to explore interests that I did not even know I had through classes and extracurriculars while challenging myself to strengthen my weaknesses and sharpen my strengths.

As far as the application process goes, one of my biggest tips would be to start early! College application materials take a long time to compile so setting deadlines for yourself will help keep you accountable. Depending on your grade level, there are different things that you want to be focusing on so make sure that you know what to prioritize. Prestigious universities oftentimes have extra essays, letters of recommendation, interviews, or other materials that they require as part of your application so starting on these early so that you can get feedback from your teachers and peers. As a first-generation low-income student, I did not have access to any fancy tutoring services or college admissions consultants while I was applying. But I put a lot of work into researching every single part of the process as extensively as I could while connecting with people that I thought could help me along the way. Because beyond getting good grades, the Ivy League and other top-tier schools look for authenticity, creativity, and intellectual curiosity. They want to see what makes you different from the tens of thousands of other applicants they get, and the best way to highlight this is through your personal statements (i.e., your essays) and letters of recommendation. These go hand in hand. I, for example, reached out to one of my teachers—Ms. King—the summer after junior year to let her know about my intention to apply to these universities, and asked her for a letter of recommendation and help with editing my essays. She immediately said that she was willing to help and even connected me to an alumnus from Yale University who just so happened to be one of the people that conducts interviews for Colorado applicants to Yale. I was able to meet with him and I learned so much about what it is like to attend an Ivy League school and what interviewers look for in applicants, all while bonding over our mutual passion for filmmaking. Over that same summer, I attended the Pre-Collegiate Development Program (PCDP) at the University of Colorado Boulder and was fortunate enough to meet one of my mentors through one of the classes in the program. At the time, she was a Ph.D. candidate and when the program was coming to an end, I also told her about the schools I wanted to apply to and asked if she would be willing to help me revise my essays. For months we brainstormed, wrote, and rewrote many essays, and even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we met over Zoom to keep the process going. She even made herself available over Christmas and New Year's Eve. We were both so dedicated to the goal of submitting the best possible essays and when I thanked her for all her help she replied “There’s no need to thank me, I just wish more students would reach out to me because I love working with them!” The point is, you never know what kind of help is out there until you branch out and connect with people in and out of your academic circle, and I can guarantee that they are always willing to help and will not be bothered by you reaching out to them.

Can you highlight any accomplishments or experiences you're proud of post high school graduation?

In May 2023, I was appointed President of the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment because I am the first Latino President to be elected and I am excited to lead and represent the Economics undergraduate student body. My work as President has already begun, and I plan to expand the organization’s efforts to reach more students of color as well as students who identify as first-generation low-income or as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The organization does a lot of work with high schools, so I would like to expand our reach in that area as well to include less privileged public high schools in the U.S., as well as reach more international students.

I am also an intern at the Harvard Law School Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Clinic where I work with attorneys to Interpret for non-native English speakers in court cases and translate immigration, refugee, and asylum documents. This Clinic does a lot of pro bono work and, as the name suggests, was established as a tool for immigrants and asylum seekers to get access to legal representation without having to worry about a language barrier. As an immigrant myself, this is an issue that is very personal to me and this role has reassured me that I want to attend law school sometime after completing my undergraduate degree.

Over the Spring 2023 semester, I worked on a campus-wide initiative to raise awareness about the link between climate change, food systems, and animal agriculture. As part of this initiative, I was in charge of circulating LED “climate backpacks” around Harvard's campus, which displayed messages like “Meat products only produce 18% of our calories, yet 83% of the world’s farmland is taken up by livestock.” My team and I also used a large-scale projector to display climate messages specifically related to Harvard’s contributions to climate change in front of the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in order to talk to students about ways they can make a difference on campus and reduce food waste. Lastly, over the past couple of months, I completed a summer study abroad term at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where I took courses on economic history and development, international relations, and global health. This summer experience has been life-changing, and although I am pretty set on going to law school, taking classes at this institution has made me consider the possibility of doing a Master’s Degree or a Ph.D. at the LSE. And because of the global perspective that each class offered, I am also more interested in perhaps pursuing an international career.