Ayudo y enseño a los estudiantes porque entiendo la importancia de animar y guiar. Como una estudiante de universidad de primera generación, yo sé que solamente unas palabras simpáticas de consejos pueden diferenciar entre rendirse y hacer lo mejor que uno puede a pesar de las dificultades.

Durante la preparatoria, pasé tiempo con los estudiantes de la escuela primaria, ayudándolos en los centros comunitarios y sabía que quería seguir ayudándolos cuando entre a la universidad.

Aprendí de “One-on-One Tutoring” en mi primer año. Mi amiga, Gracie ‘13, quien era una participante regular, me dijo que el programa quería que alguien ayudara a un estudiante de preescolar. Entrevisté con el líder del programa de la comunidad y empecé a enseñar en seguida.

One-on-One Tutoring es un programa patrocinado por Princeton’s Student Volunteer Council (SVC). SVC es una organización que patrocina más de 40 proyectos voluntarios que operan durante la semana con organizaciones en Princeton, Trenton, y lugares al redor de aquí. Ofrece muchas oportunidades para ayudar en la comunidad y apoya a los estudiantes que quieren comenzar sus propios proyectos.

One-on-One Tutoring es una oportunidad que ayuda a las mujeres de Princeton a crear y mantener relaciones positivas con chicas de origen latinoamericana que viven en Princeton. Como un programa que empareja a estudiantes de Princeton con chicas de escuelas primarias y secundarias locales, One-on-One Tutoring ofrece ayuda con leer, estudiar, tarea, y más! En la mayoría del tiempo, los estudiantes pasan la universidad entera con la misma chica.

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Cuando conocí a Tati, ella estaba en Kindergarten. Ella estaba aprendiendo a leer y escribir palabras como “the,” “cat,” and “red.” Ahora está en el tercer grado y le encanta leer, escribir en cursiva, y dice que “Language Arts” es su materia favorita. Nuestros encuentros son los mejores. Ella es brillante y le encanta contarme historias de sus amigas, su sobrina, y su perrito. Si acaba su tarea temprano, le gusta hacer cartas coloridas para sus amigas y su familia. También, goza de enseñarme las letras de sus canciones favoritas (incluyendo muchas por Taylor Swift…)

One-on-One Tutoring me ha dado la oportunidad de enseñar, alentar, e inspirar. También, me ha dado la oportunidad de aprender. Pienso que mi trabajo con Tati en los años pasados como una parte de una realización más grande que ayuda a los latinos que quieren ir a la universidad.

One-on-One Tutoring es un recuerdo que “en el servicio de la nación y en el servicio de todas las naciones” puede ser varias cosas, tal como repasar el alfabeto, leer libros, y enseñar aritmética a alguien tan simpática y adorable.

Traducido por PULP, Princeton University Language Project. 

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Hace dos semanas, tuve la oportunidad de ser invitada a la First Generation Freshman Dinner, organizada por el Hidden Minority Council, Dean Valerie Smith y Vice President Cynthia Cherrey. Mi papel en esta cena fue el de juntarme con un grupo de freshmen y un miembro de la facultad, escuchar su conversación y notar comentarios interesantes sobre la experiencia de estudiantes de primera generación en Princeton y sugerencias que tenían para la universidad y cómo Princeton puede apoyar mejor a los que son de primera generación o de bajos ingresos.

Fue una experiencia poderosa escuchar las historias de estos nueve freshmen. Fueron súper intuitivos e inquisitivos, y su conversación me animó a reflejar sobre mi propia experiencia como una estudiante de primera generación y de bajos ingresos.

Ser de primera generación trae sus propios retos y preguntas. ¿Dónde me quedo durante las vacaciones cuando no puedo pagar el vuelo a casa? ¿Voy a encajar con personas que son más ricas? Cuando mi familia pregunta por qué la universidad es importante, ¿cómo les explico por qué estudio las artes liberales?

(Respuestas: 1. Los dormitorios quedan abiertos para estudiantes durante todas las vacaciones. Además, una cafetería queda abierta durante cada receso salvo el del invierno. 2. Te va a sorprender que es casi imposible determinar la clase social de estudiantes en Princeton. Cuando asistí a un evento de Princeton Quest Scholars por la primera vez, fue una gran sorpresa que unos compañeros que yo había conocido por años fueran de primera generación o de bajos ingresos. Si no le dices a nadie que eres de primera generación, nadie lo va a saber ni suponerlo. 3. Explicar una educación de artes liberales es más difícil y te lo dejo a ti. ¡Conoces mejor a tu familia!)

Sin embargo, hay una pregunta que quizás es la más difícil: ¿Pertenezco yo aquí?

Vengo de un pueblo pequeño en Wisconsin, donde crecí en una comunidad muy unida que enfatizó los buenos valores del Medio Oeste de trabajo duro, honestidad y familia. Desde kindergarten, yo estaba en clases con los mismos 35 compañeros. Íbamos a la misma iglesia todos los domingos. Hacíamos deportes juntos. Cada tantos años, algún amigo se fue, y otro estudiante llegó. Éramos todos de orígenes modestos. Mi padre era soldador. Mi madre es cajera. No asistieron a la universidad. Hay muy poco que me distingue de los otros de Rio, Wisconsin, y esto es un pensamiento que me ha perseguido por muchos años. Me pregunté ¿Por qué yo? cuando vine a Princeton mi primer año. No merezco esto.

Pienso que es natural para cada estudiante que entra por las puertas de Princeton preguntarse si él o ella pertenece en esta escuela. Pienso que es particularmente fácil para un estudiante de bajos ingresos o de primera generación creer que él o ella no debe estar aquí. Pero la verdad es que sí debes estar aquí. No importa tu pasado o tu origen, no eres un error. Para estar cómoda en Princeton, yo tenía que reconocer que ni estaba aquí a pesar de mi origen, ni por mi origen. Mi pasado es simplemente una parte de mí.

Claro que hay momentos cuando es difícil ser de bajos ingresos o primera generación en Princeton. Como ya dije, es posible que haya momentos cuando no puedes comprar un ticket para volver a casa durante las vacaciones, o cuando tu familia te pregunta por qué vas a la universidad. Sin embargo, hay mucha gente aquí en Princeton que te aceptarán y te ayudarán en esos momentos. Princeton ayuda a asegurar que no pierdas opciones ni sufras discriminación por ser de primera generación o de bajos ingresos (¡mira los programas de ayuda financiera e internos fundados por Princeton!), y eso es algo por lo cual estoy muy agradecida.

Traducido por PULP, Princeton University Language Project. 

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The other day I walked into work with 66 bananas. Why? Because the night before, the team of people I work with at Guria had rescued 66 people from slavery in a brick kiln, and we were hosting them at our office.

I have had a lot of incredible experiences this year in India, but working at Guria—a non-profit that fights human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation—is hard to top. It has been everything: the hardest part of my experience, the most rewarding, the most frustrating, and the place where I feel most at home.

Guria is less of an organization and more of a family. Ajeet Ji, the founder and director, describes Guria’s approach to fighting human trafficking like raising a child. You don’t look at a child and try to leverage something. You also don’t throw money and projects at a child and yell at it to grow up well so it will impress the donors. You support it from all sides, you listen carefully, you adjust, and you care—a lot. And Guria has never lost the spirit of independent thinking.

This term “thinking independently” is thrown around a lot, but I don’t think I even fully understood what it meant to think independently until meeting Ajeet Ji. It means that you think, you question, you speak out, and you do not waver from what your heart says is right—even if you are completely on your own. Thinking independently also has a lot to do with dreaming: allowing yourself to dream, and never subconsciously limiting yourself to what is usually considered possible.

This is why Guria has such a long list of activities, including : rescue operations, rural village empowerment and non-formal education centers. They don’t care about the number of activities other NGOs are doing, and they have never considered doing something more “reasonable.” Each and every activity on that list has evolved directly from Guria’s 26 years spent integrating into the communities they served, listening attentively, and evolving solutions. The amount of things that Guria does is ridiculous, but when you are working at a place where fighting human trafficking is not just a job but a way of life, anything is possible. 

The buzzer sounded, and I jumped in the air as my teammates rushed the court. We had just defeated Green Bay for the first NCAA tournament win in the history of our program. A sea of orange clad supporters cheered from behind our bench, among them none other than President of the United States Barack Obama. With 31 wins and 0 losses – we were the only undefeated team in the nation.

To be called “coach” is an opportunity and an even bigger responsibility. The basketball court is my classroom, our student-athletes the front line. They are the ones playing with Princeton across their chest. They represent themselves, our program, our coaching staff and the entire University community. They do this on the court and off of it, on campus and abroad. I understand my role in their development.

My driving philosophy is one of authentic leadership. As a collegiate coach, you get to choose your team. I recruit the right people, competitors and winners to be sure, but also people who have the intangible qualities to be great. My student-athletes arrive at Princeton having already been the best, but this is a much bigger pond. And I ask that they trust the process. I remind them how special these four years are. I challenge them daily.

I get a lot of credit for “inspiring my players.” For me, it’s about caring about the process. Caring first about who we add to the Tiger family and then being deeply committed to each individual’s growth curve. This curve includes the challenges, triumphs, struggles and highlights. This is done in private; it is also done in public. It’s always done from the heart.

Princeton’s been the perfect fit for me, and I hope I’ve been the right fit for this great University. Here, I am charged with recruiting the best of the best. At Princeton, the student-athlete model is embedded into the very core of the University. Our elite athletes are some of the nation’s best students, and they are encouraged to be true members of the campus community. They pursue excellence in every arena, and they are willing to sacrifice and work relentlessly to achieve their varied dreams. In addition, we expect that our women lead with kindness, empathy, compassion and passion.

It’s been said that competing in sports reveals character and that you can tell a lot about people by how they play the game. I agree with both of these sentiments. My job is to create the synergy, to provide the leadership to help them grow into better versions of themselves, on and off the court. The path isn’t always straight, and it comes with a whole range of emotions, but it’s always been worth it.

I have hired a great staff. They are the ideal role models and teachers, and they are entirely invested in the Ivy League model. We work well together, working hard to sustain and grow a winning tradition, while ensuring that the most important life’s lessons are learned along the way.

This particular Tiger team made history and an indelible mark on the many who have followed this season closely. They played with toughness, fearlessness and relentlessness. They came together to become a true team. They achieved the unimaginable. And they did things the right way. They practiced hard, and they played with class. This Tiger team represented Princeton in the way this University and its brand deserve. I will remember this team, as I do them all, forever.

This season’s chapter is over. Soon we’ll be back at work…starting the next chapter.

The forest I wander — our library — is more docile than Poliphili’s, but no less enchanting.

The weekend of Feb. 27 to March 1 has remained one of the most formative experiences of my sixth semester. With a group of 18 students and two administrators, I traveled to Brown University for the first annual 1vyG Conference.

More than 250 first-generation students attended the conference to engage in conversations about their experiences at elite universities. Not only did I learn from profound lectures on topics like college admissions and socioeconomic status, I also had the opportunity to meet dozens of students eager to share their unique stories.

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I have found that conferences usually prioritize networking beyond everything else. However, to get the most out of 1vyG you were encouraged to listen and empathize. Through listening, I empathized with students on a deeper level rather than debasing them to mere “connections.”

I realized that although we attend different universities, we face similar struggles. A lack of mentorship and feelings of isolation permeated the stories, but so did courage and determination. The students’ eyes lit up when they admitted an intimate yet crucial detail; they felt not only compassion, but also empathy from their listeners.

With each iteration of my story, I uncovered details that I never considered significant until I thought deeply about their repercussions. It was important to mention that I grew up without books in the house. It was important to mention that attending an unaccredited elementary school contributed to the holes in my education. It was important to mention that the pangs of poverty affected my academic experience.

As a writer, I was surprised at how little I knew about my own story.

It would be foolish to say that my main takeaway was learning more about myself. I had the privilege of hearing dozens of stories from first-generation students who hailed from all over the world. My favorite books cannot compare to the raw, unedited life stories that these students carry with them. The conference allowed us to weave our narratives together and inspired us to improve the first-generation student experience at our respective universities.

Initiatives like The Princeton Hidden Minority Council allow students to engage with the first-generation and low-income community on the Princeton campus. The umbrella organization raises awareness on academic and financial resources, facilitates mentorship opportunities with professors and alumni, and spurs dialogue on the first-generation and low-income student experience.

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On the bus ride back, I ruminated on how I could contribute to improving the experience of first-generation students at Princeton. I tore my eyes away from "American Gods" and looked out at the growing twilight. It struck me that I had not started writing my daily 1,000-word passage. And that is when it hit me. I am a storyteller, and therefore I will tell stories.

Have you ever stopped to wonder, in a moment of utter woe and misery, if perhaps all the sorrows in your life are caused not by fate, but by a flaky, oily, potato-based food often served with sour cream and applesauce?

One of the most surprising pockets of linguistic diversity I have encountered is actually in the heart of suburban New Jersey: Princeton University.

It’s a bit strange, being a Canadian at Princeton. While American culture is in many ways congruent with that of its northern neighbor, the two countries nevertheless diverge from one another in subtle, though important ways.