STUDENTS & ALUMNI SHARE THEIR STORIES TO BE THE FIRST IS A POWERFUL THING— A T H R I L L I N G A N D T R A N S F O R M AT I V E EXPERIENCE. BUT NEVER AN EASY ONE. Take it from first-generation college students, like Aaron Ray ’10, who have lived this dichotomy. Ray has never regretted his decision to come to Union, but he acknowledges that he didn’t always find help when he needed it. “To be honest, I felt most invisible by administrative leaders,” he recalled. “There were times I would reach out and never received a response. I managed without this support, but talk about feeling insignificant.”
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UNION COLLEGE | WINTER 2022
THE PRESSURE TO SUCCEED CAN ALSO BE INTENSE.
“I definitely think that I have to do well in college because I’m not just doing this for myself, but for my family and the progression of my family. I’m the first high school graduate of my family and soon to be the first college graduate,” said Ashley German Soto ’24, a political science major who is minoring in Spanish. “My mom sacrificed a lot coming to this country and I have to be in a position to put us in a
