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Beta Eta sister feature in CSU online magazine
by Mallory Baker, Source Contributor
Nohely Gonzalez is not only a first-generation college student but also a first-generation American. Her parents came to the United States from Mexico without knowing the country, the language or the people.
Gonzalez’s father worked at a beef-packing plant in Greeley, while her mother cleaned office buildings. Despite her humble beginnings, Gonzalez was set on the idea of going to college, and her parents constantly supported her in achieving her goals.
“To this day, I am still astounded to see how much I have accomplished in my life,” Gonzalez says. “I do not come from a family with money or a history of higher education — they couldn’t do anything more than encourage me to pursue my dreams.”
One of those dreams was fulfilled when the Upward Bound TRIO Program, a program run by the U.S. Department of Education, worked with Gonzalez during high school to support and encourage her to pursue higher education. Upward Bound helps high school students from low-income families as well as high school students from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree, enter and complete college.
“It gave me a fighting chance as a student of limited resources and allowed me to become a young, educated Hispanic woman,” Gonzalez says. “Their support and encouragement, their dedication to ensure the success of their students, has never left me feeling alone in this fight.”
CSU is the only Colorado higher education institution that serves students through all the TRIO programs, including Upward Bound and the Academic Advancement Center/Student Support Services program that assists students to obtain their bachelor’s degree. The support from TRIO encouraged Gonzalez to apply for the First Generation Award Program, Key Communities, President’s Leadership Program and Alternative Break service trips.
Gonzalez’s favorite memory at CSU is receiving the Jackson Distinguished First Generation Scholar award. “I had to get up and give a speech to everyone, and I have a huge fear of public speaking, so it was really cool to conquer that,” she says.
She also helped charter Colorado’s first chapter of the multicultural Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Inc., in 2013 with a group of women who had similar interests and concerns.
Click here to read the entire article on Source
Nohely Gonzalez is a 2016 graduate of Colorado State University and a charter of the Beta Eta chapter.