I was born to parents from Guanajuato, Mexico, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am a first-generation college student and a first-generation Mexican American, and I value these identities deeply. I am currently a first-year graduate student in Communication program at the University of Utah Asia Campus (UAC). I chose to attend UAC for graduate school to expand on what I learned as an undergraduate. Still, I also decided it for another reason: I have lived in my hometown my entire life, so I figured it was time to leave and see what else the world has to offer.

For my family, the University wasn’t just a school. It was part of our story. My mother worked at the University Hospital. My siblings attended summer academies while still in high school, learning about the college process and getting a taste of campus life by staying in the dorms. Over time, I watched them grow from college students to college graduates; both eventually continued their professional careers at the University. In many ways, the University of Utah wasn’t just a place we went. It was a place that helped shape who we became.

 

When I was old enough, I attended a summer academy too, and it gave me a glimpse of what college could feel like. From that point on, the University of Utah became my dream university. It stayed constant in my life for years, and when I enrolled in 2017, it became the place where I grew personally, academically, and professionally. I graduated in 2021 with my bachelor’s degree in communications. During my time as an undergraduate, I built lifelong friendships with classmates and formed meaningful relationships with advisors who helped me feel supported in a big system.

I loved my campus experience so much that I stayed after graduation and was hired as an admissions counselor at the home campus, recruiting students as they prepared for the next step in their educational journey. In a way, I enrolled as a student, and I haven’t left. The University of Utah’s home campus in Salt Lake City offers students opportunities to impact society on a large scale. The Utah Asia Campus offers something equally powerful: a smaller community where environment and faculty connection can shape a student’s experience in a lasting way.

The University of Utah is a prime example of the flagship college experience in the United States. The best way to describe it is simple: it’s big. The campus covers hundreds of acres, the student population is large, and the energy is vibrant. But with that large scale can come difficulty. I remember my first year in Math 1010. The class was large, and participation points were tracked through a clicker. For over half the semester, I wasn’t earning any participation credit, not because I wasn’t trying, but because I was entering my answers incorrectly without realizing it. I didn’t know until a classmate finally leaned over and pointed out what I was doing wrong. Looking back, that moment says a lot. In a huge lecture hall, it’s easy to feel like you can disappear into the crowd. It also reminded me that sometimes support doesn’t come from a system, it comes from a person. Even with that, I eventually found my way. Over time, the campus didn’t feel quite as overwhelming. I grew close to students through my on-campus job, stayed connected to classmates, and built relationships with advisors who helped guide me. And even though the University is large, it was the small interactions that had the most impact. One of the most critical moments in my time as a student began with a simple conversation with an advisor. They had mentioned they wondered what it would be like to work in college admissions. That conversation set me on the path toward a career in admissions shortly after graduation. I genuinely loved the admissions profession and hope to return to it upon graduation. Moments like that are what make the University special. My success came from the support of the people around me.

As my first semester at the Asia Campus ended in December 2025, I will begin my second semester soon, outside of the apparent size difference between the two campuses. UAC is smaller and offers a stronger sense of community, which can shape the student experience more personally. Faculty, administrators, and staff do an excellent job creating an environment where students feel supported and recognized. In the short time I’ve been at UAC, I’ve already built meaningful relationships with faculty, even professors whose classes I have not taken. I think back to a moment near the end of the semester. I stepped out of class to refill my water bottle, and a professor I had only met a handful of times stopped me in the hallway to ask how my semester went. It was a simple question, but it made me feel seen. That kind of interaction never happened for me at the Salt Lake campus. There were times when I felt isolated as I was just one of many. I haven’t felt that at UAC. Here, I feel like part of a collective. I feel like a valued member of the campus community. UAC may be smaller in size, but the impact it has had on my life in such a short amount of time has been massive.