Acceptance letter to Harvard...wait what? Yes, our guest, Kassandra graduated valedictorian of her class last year and received a very prestigious acceptance letter to attend Harvard University among other ivy league schools, but better yet, she is a first generation college student to attend school in the US. Did I mention she is the first in her family to pursue a medical degree?
Without her parents even speaking English and for some time period not even living in the country, so how did she do it? She will share this and so much more with us including:
We also dive into the importance of mentorship and being actively involved in your school/community. And last, but not least, she wants to share with others the importance of NETWORKING, networking, networking! If you are listening to this podcast you are already one step ahead because this podcast is about mentorship and networking with people who want to see you succeed!
Kassandra want's to share with you:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kassandrarodriguez04
Instagram: kassandra.rdz04
Look no further! Our free PARENT CHEAT SHEET is packed with invaluable tips and ready-to-use scripts designed to strengthen your bond with your growing teen and support them on their journey of self-discovery. Connection before Direction.
Download it here.
Connect with Sonia Cacique
LinkedIn
Instagram
JOIN OUR CAREER NEWSLETTER here.
🚀 I'll help you rediscover who you truly are, provide clarity towards your future and be your personalized coach with Multiple Service Package options. Your Coach Sonia is ready to help you!
"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"
Acceptance letter to Harvard...wait what? Yes, our guest, Kassandra graduated valedictorian of her class last year and received a very prestigious acceptance letter to attend Harvard University among other ivy league schools, but better yet, she is a first generation college student to attend school in the US. Did I mention she is the first in her family to pursue a medical degree?
Without her parents even speaking English and for some time period not even living in the country, so how did she do it? She will share this and so much more with us including:
We also dive into the importance of mentorship and being actively involved in your school/community. And last, but not least, she wants to share with others the importance of NETWORKING, networking, networking! If you are listening to this podcast you are already one step ahead because this podcast is about mentorship and networking with people who want to see you succeed!
Kassandra want's to share with you:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kassandrarodriguez04
Instagram: kassandra.rdz04
Look no further! Our free PARENT CHEAT SHEET is packed with invaluable tips and ready-to-use scripts designed to strengthen your bond with your growing teen and support them on their journey of self-discovery. Connection before Direction.
Download it here.
Connect with Sonia Cacique
LinkedIn
Instagram
JOIN OUR CAREER NEWSLETTER here.
🚀 I'll help you rediscover who you truly are, provide clarity towards your future and be your personalized coach with Multiple Service Package options. Your Coach Sonia is ready to help you!
"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"
Friends, I'm so thrilled to share with you our special guest for today. Whether you're in high school or in college, this interview is for you. Cassandra is a first-year college student from Brownsville, texas. She is majoring in human developmental and regenerative biology and economics at Harvard University. Cassandra's goal is to attend medical school to become either a cardiothoracic or plastic surgeon. At Harvard, she is the sales manager for Campus Insights with the Harvard Student Agencies, a staff writer for the Harvard International Review, a mentor in Science Club for girls and a member of Women in Medicine. I know, my friend, you will be inspired by hearing her share her story.
Speaker 1:Cassandra struggled while crossing the Mexican border every single day just to get a good education. Her dedication, commitment and track record has proven that she can accomplish anything, no matter what obstacles she encounters. Nothing has stopped her and nothing should stop you either, my friend, after listening to this episode. But you know what is more daring to me? That Cassandra is a genuinely sweet, kind girl who wants to share her experience with others, like you, to encourage and motivate you. She will share free yes, free resources for you and will also share tips and recommendations from her personal experience.
Speaker 1:Imagine, friend, going to school in a foreign country wanting to seek opportunities for advancement, yet having to find them all on your own. Well, sweet friend, if she can do it, so can you. I know you will enjoy this episode. And, friend, before we get started, can you do me a favor please? After you listen to this episode, can you please share this episode with at least one other person that you feel will be inspired by this conversation? I love you, friend. So, without further ado, let's get started. Welcome, cassandra. Welcome to the College and Career Ready podcast.
Speaker 2:Hi Sonia, I'm super excited to be here. How are you doing today? I'm doing great.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining me. I'm super excited. I know you have a great story to share with us. I'm pretty exciting stuff that's going on in your life, but why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to our audience? Tell us a little bit about who Cassandra is?
Speaker 2:Yes, of course, honored to be here. Just a brief intro of who I am. My name is Cassandra. Right now, I'm in Harvard student at Harvard College, studying human development and regenerative biology, with double concentration in economics. My ultimate goal is to attend medical school to become a surgeon, either a cardiothoracic or a plastic surgeon. I am originally from Brownsville, texas, but I am also from Mexico. At the same time, I have a dual citizenship, so I have both a Mexican citizenship and a US citizenship. In regard to academics, I attended elementary school in Mexico up until sixth grade and I moved to the US in seventh grade, the end of my sixth, starting seventh grade, to a public school in Texas. I spent there two years, seventh and eighth grade and then I moved into a magnet high school medical professions in Olmito, and it was more geared towards medicine. So that's where I solidified my pursuit to continue studying medicine in the future.
Speaker 1:Very cool and I will be asking you a little bit more about that in a little bit. But tell me a little bit about your family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, most of my family is from Mexico. I have my mom has about eight siblings, so it's a very extended family. I am an only child so even though I it's only me and my dog, I have to say I love my dog. I do have a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles. Just a very extended family.
Speaker 1:I love it. Super traditional and I can completely relate with that. Yes, awesome, awesome. So tell us a little bit about where you are now in your education. So you told us you're at Harvard. What year are you?
Speaker 2:in. Yes, I am a first year student. This is my second semester here, spring semester. I applied to college in 2022. I am class of 2022 for high school, class of 2026 for college and, yeah, I. Harvard has a residential system for housing, so we get assorted our freshman year into like Harvard yard, which is all the freshmen are living together their first year, and sophomore and junior and senior year you get sorted into one of their upperclassmen housing, which I like to think about is like Harry Potter, when they put the hat into the kids, and then they get sorted into like Riffender's. That's what we like to think about it and actually yesterday we were filling out the housing forms.
Speaker 1:It's a random assignment, so you don't know where you're going to get. Wow, that's exciting, that's super, super exciting. So tell me a little bit about growing up. What career were you wanting to pursue?
Speaker 2:When I was very, very little, I wanted to be a teacher. I remember I was about five to six years old and I loved stamping and like checking off a lot of notebooks. So I remember going back home and at the end of the school year it was the summer and I used to have like all the stacks of books I had from my kindergarten like the alphabet and stuff and I would just open them and with my pen I would like be the teacher and check them off and like stamp them like six times. And that was like when I was very little. But then as I grew up, I started more looking into, more into medicine and just becoming a doctor. And you feel like it is also very common for parents to always like be like oh, you want to be a doctor, you want to do this. And I feel like it really resonated with me at the time and I was like, okay, a doctor.
Speaker 2:And then when I started middle school, I was like, okay, like I saw the possibility of becoming more of a doctor than in high school. It was even more of a possibility with all the opportunities we had, which I can expand later on when you ask about it. And after high school I was like this is for sure what I want to do. In middle school I really didn't want to go into college not knowing what to do, and that's totally okay. There's so many people that I know here that are undecided majors, but for me personally, with how I work and how I plan ahead for what I want to do, it was more of like I need to have like a career goal that I want to have. So it was always medicine and I wanted to come into college, just sure of what I was doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, that sounds amazing. Okay, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions here because I want to dive into this. Do you have anyone in your family who studied medicine?
Speaker 2:No, not really. I am a first-generation student in the US. As a college student in the US, I did have some family that attended college in Mexico, but not to the moment, right now that they're pursuing medicine. Wow.
Speaker 1:That is incredible, that's so exciting. And you're at Harvard, which we'll get to that too, man, you have just so much to share here with us, super. And then how did you narrow down to a cardiologist? Where did that come from?
Speaker 2:Yes, I am mostly interested in cardio or plastic surgery. I'm still not very decided as to what specialty right, but I just know that in a broader sense it's going to be a surgeon and, as I said, since I attended the high school that I did medical professions and their exposure to medicine and just all the classes that we have like anatomy and physiology, all the labs, the system, introduction to everything I feel like at the moment that's what I love the most the heart, what was more interesting to me. But of course I'm very open-minded and maybe that might change later in the future, but for now I'm going to stick with that.
Speaker 1:Wow, and that was just from your experiences, from what you've read, what you've heard.
Speaker 2:Yes, we got really exposed to all of the specialties, all of the systems and just I felt like that was what I was more interested in. Like they said cardio, and I was like, oh my gosh, yes, my goodness, wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Tell us a little bit about your high school, so what classes really impacted you? I know you went through a certification program, so share with us about that.
Speaker 2:Yes, I attended medical professions, which is part of the South Texas ISD district, a very great district, especially for students who already have in mind something they want to pursue or just like solidify what career they want to go later in the future. They also have like the engineering, more like STEM engineering based, and they also have like the medical professions, which is more like medicine, and, of course, there's always students that don't want to go into medicine. But just getting exposed early on is always beneficial. My freshman year I took a lot of AP classes. By the end of my senior year, which was something that not a lot of high schools offer. I took about 14 AP classes by the end of my senior year. I started off my freshman year with just one AP, spanish. I believe I was only one of two freshmen taking AP classes freshman year, but since Spanish is my native language, I was like, why not? And medical professions is unique. I think they changed their curriculum a bit this coming years for medicine. But when I was there, your freshman year you started off with like an intro class to medicine, just like what it is instrument systems, just like a basic science class, and as you move on to the year sophomore, junior, senior you really get into like a more specialized program, which is what I did.
Speaker 2:Senior year. Sophomore year we had like anatomy and physiology and pathophysiology, just with a lot of labs. We dissected a rat. Have pictures on my phone. Sometimes they pop up, you know how in your iPhone it's like the memories from a few years ago and then it's like an open rat. And junior year was COVID. Unfortunately our clinical rotations were impacted by that and we didn't get the full experience because usually junior year is the year where you go out to shadow and like do clinical rotations. But we were able to get the CPR certification that year.
Speaker 2:So my junior year I did get CPR certified and by senior year you get to choose what program you were interested in. The school offers like EMT, phlebotomy, pharmacy tech, medical assisting, and I chose to pursue pharmacy technician, which is also with caduceus. We use caduceus to throughout all the program and we have a great program to prepare us for the test. And I chose pharmacy because I felt that at the moment you're going to get, if you want to go into medicine, of course drugs and medicine is always you're going to have to know and memorize. So that was kind of my motivation to pursue pharmacy and also I love my teacher.
Speaker 2:So that was like a win-win for me and I was between pharmacy tech and EMT and the only reason I didn't choose EMT was because I was really interested in I love the adrenaline and learning so many skills, but I felt also that it was it establishes some financial security when you move into college, having a job that you can assist. And the EMT, I felt, was something that sometimes you have to take shifts that are later on in the day or at night. That I wasn't going to be willing to do in college. So pursuing the pharmacy tech certification was more of like viable option for me when I came into college and I'm thinking of working at a pharmacy or at a hospital in the pharmacy my sophomore fall semester.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome, and that got you some great experience and some things to things to put on your resume, is it not?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a win-win for everyone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, awesome, awesome. Tell us about, because some people don't understand how it would work with students who are in the United States going to school. But you actually lived in Mexico, is that correct? Yes, so tell us a little bit about that experience. Yes, of course.
Speaker 2:I live in Brownsville, texas, which is a border town with Mexico. The only division between the two countries is a bridge, and I am a US citizen. My mom, for instance, and the rest of my family are not US citizens, they're Mexican citizens. So for some period of time I did have to cross the bridge every day to attend school and that was mostly like the main experience that I had my family's in Mexico. I want to pursue an education in the United States. That was going to be like the trajectory that I had to make and it was the sacrifice for everyone in my family me, my parents and the rest of your family having to wake up early in the mornings, having to go to school. But that experience, I feel, was one of the most important experiences in my life just to like value my family and just value hard work and just really work hard towards your goals. At the end, yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow, and how old were you then? I was seven grade, I was about 12, 13.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and wow. That's incredible and I congratulate you for being so persistent and wanting to keep on going, even facing those challenges. Yeah, yeah, awesome and then okay. So back to when you were in high school. What made you apply to Harvard? How did that? What's the story behind that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the thing is I didn't have any pressure from my parents or anyone in my family to really pursue all of this. Of course, my mom was always very supportive of me and always, like, trusted and had confidence that I was going to do great things, and I thank her for that, for all the support that she has given me throughout all these years. But it was never something that some parents are really strict with their kids, a lot of pressure of like you have to go to college, to a good college but I never really experienced that. It was more of like an internal drive in my case that I wanted to pursue something more and I feel like, sometimes, even though, when parents are strict, if the child doesn't want to do it, they're not going to achieve it, and in this case, it was just a drive for me and I am a strong believer and I always tell this when, like many people have asked me like oh my gosh, you got into Harvard. Like, what did you do? You really have to set a goal since the start of your freshman year, like, and it's small steps, you know it's not going to, you're going to go into freshman year and everything's going to work out and everything's going to be amazing and you're going to get here suddenly because of luck. Right Starting high school, I said what do I have to do to get here in the first place? Academic rigor is something really important. Even though grades don't define you as a person, at least in this situation, they do. In some sense. It's a filter for all the students who are applying. So it was like okay, I know this. Then what do I have to do? Well, I have to be top of the class or achieve really high grades, you know. So, since freshman year, I was like I want to be top of the class, I need to get the good grades, and I did. At the end, I graduated by the Victorian of the class. So that was like a small step. The freshman year just setting your goals, planning everything out and throughout all the years is just working towards that goal.
Speaker 2:I took part of a lot of extra curriculars and I also, like, worked hard to do good things in them, just not to say, oh, I did this, this and this, but then no results, which is something that universities and colleges are looking for. I wanted to stay committed to some extra curriculars more than others. I did several extra curriculars for my whole high school experience for four years and that was mostly something known as UIAL and HOSA. Uial was mostly I did history, nothing, nothing related to medicine, but it ended up being one of the best experiences with my mentor and coach, which became my letter of recommendation and just I believe I started actually applying and looking into colleges. My junior year or kind of end of sophomore year summer, I started attending like live information sessions. I signed up.
Speaker 2:Universities have a lot of resources and I feel like sometimes students and parents don't know of how many resources there are out there for students especially like me, like first generation and low income, and how much support you have. You know, and sometimes it's just exploring, just searching on Google Harvard info session, yale infosession, university of Texas at Austin info session and that's something I always recommend just starting to get exposed to what's out there, knowing what they're expecting of you, and that's what I did Mostly my sophomore and junior year just going into this info sessions, contacting like admission officers from your region, like oh I have this question about this, like I have this question about that. Just a lot of communication in that sense, and also applying to external programs outside of school. I always recommend these few programs that I participated in high school that really helped me a lot as a first generation and low income student, which are like matriculate. Matriculate is a program for high school students, high school juniors and seniors, and they match you with a mentor at a top university in the US. I got matched with a mentor in Johns Hopkins and she helped me throughout my junior year and senior year with any questions I had about the application process, my essays, my resumes, so she was a great help.
Speaker 2:Also, I applied to something known as the Hispanic scholarship fund. I am, I identify as Hispanic, so that was a perfect program for me, and they also had a program in the summer to get exposed to college application process. They had like workshops, seminars, that sort of stuff, and the good thing is that all this programs are free and I feel like there's a lot of misconceptions that you have to pay so much money, especially like for sat prep, for instance, that you have to pay thousands of dollars for sat prep, or. But there's so many programs out there that are free and provide you with a lot of valuable benefits like that, and I'm not going to lie, was a hard process. Just overall, the college admissions is very stressful and for me as a person that I really like to know what's coming ahead, just being full of uncertainty throughout my senior year of not knowing what was going to happen next was stressful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I applied to about 18 schools total. How many 18. Oh, wow, yeah, and some of them were Texas schools. Of course, I am from Texas, so it was like UT, austin, texas and UTRGV just a lot of rise university, and I also applied to most of the Ivy leagues. So I was like, yeah, I'll Stanford, harvard, columbia, johns Hopkins, mit. You know there were a lot of rejections, but there were also a lot of acceptance letters, which is something that I'm really grateful for. One big problem that I forgot to mention was quest bridge. I really really recommend quest bridge for students who also identify as first generation, low income or even if you don't consider yourself low income, first generation students are also welcome. They it's an application based program that you apply your junior and senior year of high school and they provide you with so many opportunities and resources for the college admission process, and so quest, which was definitely one of the main programs that I feel like, helped me get here where I am today.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome, awesome. And so you got your acceptance letters. How did you narrow down to the school of choice?
Speaker 2:And those schools of course definitely come first and other. So I knew that I got accepted into like UT, austin and Texas. And then you charge me because of course if you're in Texas and you're like top 10%, you have automatic admission. So I already had a safety net there. If something else didn't work out, I was going to come back to those schools. And by no means I'm saying like those were the last choices, that's not what I mean here. It's just that in my personal case I really wanted to move out of Brownsville and just pursue something else different, you know, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Maybe I was going to go out and say this is definitely not for me, like I'm not used to this, and come back, but I just wanted to get exposed to something else.
Speaker 2:And then after the Texas schools, I think I got accepted to Johns Hopkins after and I was like the biggest acceptance, the first big acceptance that I got. And when I got accepted there I was like I honestly don't care about where, like it was a great school. So I was like I really don't care where else I get accepted. You know, like whatever happens, I'm coming here. And they gave me a like full, full right scholarship and they weren't even giving me money back. So I was like this is amazing, like I'm set. And then Ivy League they came it was, I think, march and I had high expectations but not, honestly, no, I did not have any expectations at all. I was like, whatever happens happens. And actually the first school that I opened my admission letter was Harvard, because I was like, if I get in, then this is the best day of my life and if I don't, then I just know that you know it's okay. And I opened, I was in my computer and I opened the letter and it said congratulations, you're in.
Speaker 1:And I couldn't believe it I started crying.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna lie. My parents weren't home either. My mom wasn't home Because I was like I'm just gonna open it. I don't have any expectations at all, and yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, Wow. And so you chose Harvard. It was your first choice. Can you tell us a little bit about your financial opportunity that you got there? Persistence, yes.
Speaker 2:Most of the schools I got into and I think I don't think I've mentioned this from all the schools that I applied, from the ones that I was choosing from, was Columbia, johns Hopkins and the Harvard. Those were the three main schools that I was deciding in between. All of them gave me full financial aid. I was on a full ride, so it wasn't a matter of money, which was amazing, and I am so grateful for that, because there's no way that my parents or my family could pay for a tuition like that. But that's another point that I really wanna emphasize that usually private schools and Ivy League schools like this one have very, very generous financial aid, even compared to, like Texas schools, ut, austin I still had to pay a lot of money to attend and Harvard and Columbia I had zero dollars to pay. That's just the difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is amazing, and I'm so grateful that you and I have connected, because this is the information that I wanna share with others. You know, it really gives a lot of hope for students and parents too. I really really appreciate it. You're very articulate. By the way, If I haven't said that I love the way you speak, your thoughts and everything that's amazing, awesome. Oh man, I have so many questions, we're gonna run out of time. Okay, so who influenced you the most?
Speaker 2:I would say my mom and my family. Overall, as I said, I'm in a very excited family and I felt like I've always had the support of my parents there, my family just always being there for me, and it is a very important thing to feel supported and just encouraged, and especially throughout the college application process, it's full of uncertainty. In some way you're fighting like adversity. You're a first-generation, low-income student. You know none of your parents have really gone to college in the US. We didn't even know how to navigate the applications or even like how to do the forms through the FABSA. Everything was so new to me and just having them there just encouraging me to everything's gonna be okay, like if you, even if you end up here, which is not where you want to be, you're still gonna get a degree and you're still gonna continue your education and everything's gonna be fine. So just having them there as a support was definitely something that really helped me throughout the process.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, amazing, amazing. How did you manage your time? Well, let's break this up into two parts how did you manage your time in high school and how do you manage your time now, because you actually had time to fit me into your schedule.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, I feel time management is definitely the thing, the main thing in college, and I can say that for sure, 100% In high school. It's very different to what college life is. As they say, freedom is a two-end sword. Yeah, you can do whatever you want, but then if you just do whatever you want, then things don't get done. In high school, having the structure from like 8 to 4 PM, you know your schedule, you follow your classes, you know that at the end of the day you're gonna go and do your extra clear. So at the end of the day, go home, do your homework, sleep and again and then college. It's not like that. You choose whenever you want to wake up, you choose.
Speaker 2:Especially here at Harvard, we have a lot of freedom to choose what classes we wanna take. We don't have a certain curriculum that they tell us to take, so it's more free. You can choose whatever you want to take. Of course there's some prereq classes that you have to take, but it's not like they're telling you to take this class at this hour or do any extra clear at some point. So in high school, just having that structure and it's gonna be the same thing. You know you're gonna follow a pattern. You know that at the end of your senior year you're gonna take eight AP classes, so you know what's gonna happen. Everything is more systematized, I would say.
Speaker 2:But then in college it's like what is going on? And that was my first semester and this semester now it's like I really really have to learn how to manage my time really well, even just what time I go to eat. You develop some habits that you didn't have in high school because your parents were there. You had pressure Time to eat, time to sleep, time to do this. And then, now that I'm here, it's like I have to block out time on my calendar, on G-Cal, to go eat. Like it comes to that point. Everything has to be blocked out in order for me to do it. And sometimes I feel like for the last semester I had this problem a lot that and I'm doing this now in this semester like blocking out my times in the calendar because I say some days I'm going to wake up, go to class and then I'm going to do work at night and then I don't do the work because I did something else, or I got distracted, or I had a meeting, or I had this or I had something else.
Speaker 2:So just really really being organized with yourselves and not over committing is another thing. Yeah, in high school I feel like I was in all the clubs in my high school, mostly with the exception of like three, but I was part of all the organizations and I had like a leadership position. I was like the treasurer for one, the president for the other, the vice president for the other. So I was involved in all of this and then doing my classes as well. But here is just the rigor of the academic rigor is so different and you can do everything. Yeah, and I feel like the first semester I did over commit myself with the more things that I could have to at the same time and then that causes you to not be good at anything at the end.
Speaker 1:Mm, hmm.
Speaker 2:So it's like I'm doing all of this but if I'm just giving 20% to each thing, then it doesn't work out when I can give 50 and 50. So it's just like really managing and being strategic of what you want to do and what you want.
Speaker 1:Good point. Good point. What about what tips as far as managing mental health, stress, anxiety? Do you have anything for us on that?
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely this semester, especially with more classes. I'm taking a more heavy science course load this semester with two science classes especially. Each class has a lab component and a discussion component, plus my economics class. And here at Harvard it's known it's either like a piece at class, which is like a problem set class, kind of like a math worksheet in high school, or you're in an essay class, so it's like writing, and what advisors here tell you to do is really balance your semesters out to have like two pieces of classes to essay classes. Don't overload yourself with four pieces of classes because then it's going to be a lot for you and actually, being like a STEM concentrator and wanting to pursue medicine, my semesters are more going to be heavily based on p sets. So that's a known thing. And this semester I have three pieces of classes and just one essay class, because my economics class also a piece of class and just finding the balance to have time for yourself and having the time for school is something that I really am in the process of learning.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to say I've mastered it and I'm not going to say that I've mastered it. I neglected that a lot. I was like I have to do this and this and this, but then you also need time for yourself. You know, especially with so many things going on and there's so many amazing people here that are doing so many things, and you're like, what am I doing? But then you have to realize, like I've gone this far, I am here for a reason and sometimes you have to put yourself first. Sometimes, if not, turning in an assignment means so you're going to be fine the next day or something else. Like it's okay, it doesn't matter, and that's something that I'm still learning right now.
Speaker 2:Like you see, all these people getting amazing grades, even though the cost is extremely hard, and you're like me and my roommates were all struggling with the same class. It's like what's going on? You know definitely what they call like imposter syndrome, and when I, when I came out of high school, I was like, oh my gosh, of course I'm not going to get that. I am, I'm smart and I got here and everything's good. But then you get here and you're like, maybe this is a thing and it's just realizing that you don't have to compare yourself to others. You don't know what path they're going to take, you don't know what career they're going to have what their intentions are. You know, it's just you, do you. You have your own goals and just keep going. It doesn't matter and just prioritize yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it and I know I put you on the spot on that question, but I did it purposefully because it also allows you to kind of stop and think like, do I have a system? And I appreciate your honesty about it, that you're working on it, because I think that's what people want to hear. They want to hear you know authenticity from others saying you know what I'm working on. That and that's okay too. So it's just becoming aware is a huge thing, and I think putting you in the spot just open that opportunity for you just to sit and think like, how am I doing? Wonderful Yep. Thank you for sharing that. If you go back in time, would you change anything?
Speaker 2:Honestly, at this point I wouldn't change anything. I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, and if I gave in my 100% and it didn't work out, then it was some other outlying factor or an outlier that didn't work out.
Speaker 1:So yeah, do you remember a time? Do you remember maybe a big struggle? I mean, you mentioned the traveling back and forth. Was there anything else impactful in your life that you felt it was a struggle, but then in hindsight it was well worth it or it was kind of put you in a better spot afterwards.
Speaker 2:I feel like for me personally, the bridge was the most impactful because it did not stop just in one year. It was a consistent process throughout the four years. You have your family in one place, you're in another place and just like having to wake up early in the morning, having to do the same routine every day was definitely the biggest struggle for me, and it seems like you wasted so much time just in commuting to one place to another, where I had my friends leaving in Texas and literally in front of the school. You know like even sacrificing sleep, something that seems like very simple, but it was a big thing for me.
Speaker 2:Also, being like a first generation college student, I didn't know how to navigate the process as well, and I do believe, especially there is a big misconception of just like, oh like you're a first generation student, you're not going to get really anywhere.
Speaker 2:You have your fate predetermined to go just to your community college, state school and just move on and just not go the one step ahead and explore and do the things that I was doing. So navigating everything and just being unfamiliar with what to expect, I feel like was the struggle as well. Definitely, I would encourage more high schools, especially like in areas or cities that are not big, like my city, just to like really emphasize, like more college counseling or college, you know, college counseling counselors specifically for scholarships, just to get more students, more resources, that know they have options and that it is possible. You know, a big thing here is just the mentality if you think that it's not going to happen, then it's not going to happen, you know. But if you know that it can happen and you work for it, then you know it can happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. And listen, cassandra, you are really making change because we're spreading out the word right now. You were so kind to share with us a couple of organizations and resources, and that's one step in the right direction as far as getting those services for students, you know, and letting them know that it's out there and available.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it doesn't hurt like to just share what you did and just share the resources that you use, that if I can get them out and especially it helps this organizations as well. Just know that there's a desire and like a will for students to use them.
Speaker 1:So tell us a little bit more about mentoring. We, we, we spoke about you having mentors, but what has impacted you most about building those connections and networking?
Speaker 2:Yes, networking is definitely a big thing, especially coming here into college and just being exposed more to like the business environment and what career is going to do later on in the future. Networking, I would say people emphasize a lot in high school great, great, great, great, great, sorry, amazing. And you need to have good grades to be successful in life. But then you come into a more me, in my case, a more like. You're exposed to more professionals and individuals who are actually out in the world doing stuff. And it's not about grades, it's not about doing good in school, it's not about getting a hundred on that science midterm you have last week, but just connecting and building those relationships with individuals and just getting to know them, having someone that you can reach out to, and just forming those connections.
Speaker 2:Networking is a big big thing. You can have the most perfect grades, but if you don't know anyone then it's not going to help. Yeah, especially in medicine, it is a bit. It is a bit different because in medicine, of course, you have to go to medical school and you do need a GPA and you do need amazing academic credentials, but that's specifically for medicine.
Speaker 2:If you go into the business world, for instance, business moves with people, with connections, with talk, right. So you have to know individuals in several industries. You have to connect. What are they doing right now? I know some students here are upperclassmen, they are sophomores and they are already applying for jobs they want to have next summer or next year, like two or one year in events.
Speaker 2:That's a lot of time, right, and they're like I have to go to these recruiting events, I have to get to know the recruiters, I have to get to know this and email them and chat with them and go to coffee chats and do all of this and then you just learn the importance of networking and it's a lot like I don't know this is going to sound bad, but a 4.0 GPA with someone that doesn't know how to talk to people, not connect to people, and you have someone with a 3.6, which is not bad at all, or a 3.3 or 3.5. And knowing how to communicate your thoughts, talk to people and just empathize with other individuals, then it's going to work out, you know.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, oh, my goodness, that was amazing, because you're really telling our young youth something that's very important and critical. Because they're so used to social media and the phones and sending messages, they're losing the connection skills that happen sometimes face to face in building communications and conversations, et cetera. So I'm glad you're making a key point about this. The other thing I wanted to mention this is specifically for our listeners it doesn't mean that you have to go to Harvard. It doesn't matter where you go. You have to build those connections, because you could go to a university in your town or in your city, but you're connecting with people outside of there or even within the university. That is going to be more of an impact than going to, you know, a top university and not speaking to anyone and just finishing your classes.
Speaker 2:And that's the thing that I'm also working on, as I said, with, like, just prioritizing myself, is just where to draw the line between academics and me getting out there. And it's hard because you have especially here you have the two extremes. You literally have the individuals who just focus on school, don't do anything else, and have the 4.0 GPAs. And then you have the other individuals who literally emphasize or prioritize the extracurriculars, with a low GPA and I'm saying like a 3.5, 3.4, not something common for, like pre-med students, but they are getting so many more things done. So you're like, what should I do? Like how do I balance my time? And for me that has been a big struggle, especially in college. Where do I draw the line to know what percentage of my energy and time to give to each one?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. Because at the end of the day, you will graduate and you will work for a job. Exactly. You want to definitely set yourself high, at a high level where you can reach out to those people that you've connected with to get yourself started with a great position or a great company or whatever it is that you're moving on to next. You're already starting at a different level, exactly, yep.
Speaker 2:And it's a small world. I'm going to say that, especially here, there's so many individuals and so many people from many different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, it's the small world. Everything is connected, everyone knows each other. And you're going to go to a job interview and they're going to ask okay, what did you do? Oh, but I have a 4.0 GPA. Okay, but what did you do? Who do you know? Like you know, it's the truth. Unfortunately, it just depends a lot on what career path you want to go, but networking is definitely a skill that's necessary for everyone, regardless.
Speaker 1:I feel like you have stolen my tagline because I have said that so many times. I have told that to so many students when I've done one-on-ones with them. I have said that when you graduate this is why we emphasize getting out there or getting a certification, you know, getting yourself with some experience because when you graduate, they're going to ask you what you did and you say okay, well, I got a 4.0,. Okay, but what did you do? You know you just stole my tagline, but that's okay. No, I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it. I'm a staff writer for elementary girls, elementary and middle school girls, and I'm a staff writer for the Harvard International Review, which I talk a lot about Mexico and just like their domestic politics and immigration as well.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a wide and beautiful background you have. I think this is amazing because you're still exploring, even though you've made it this far. You're still connecting with people, you're still building those relationships and finding mentors, and I really, really love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think mentors are a big thing and I'm really glad that you said the word mentor. I almost forgot. Having someone or a lot of people who you can connect and just learn about is something that I really emphasize for everyone, especially high school students and when you come here to college. I don't know if this is because I am an only child and I've learned how to talk to adults a lot, but I really connect with older individuals, especially because I really appreciated value the wisdom and experience they have In high school. I did have a lot of mentors, as I said, with all the programs that I was part of, really trying to build those connections with some individuals just to know what to expect when I got here and similarly, when I'm here, I'm trying to connect with a lot of students or professors who are at the medical school and just so I know what's going to happen next. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Thank you for your time, cassandra. I wish I could just hug you, give you a big virtual hug. I appreciate your time, your story, your motivation, your encouragement and hopefully our audience, our young adults that are listening, get encouraged and motivated and then hopefully we'll have you here in a couple of years to give us a hug too.
Speaker 2:I love talking about all of this, especially because I really want to like inspire and just motivate other students that are in my position right now that it is possible, that it can happen. You just have to like put in the work and just be happy, be optimistic and everything's going to work out at the end.
Speaker 1:I love it. Thank you, Cassandra, for spending time with me and hopefully we'll be in touch soon.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Wow, friend, what a story. I wanted to pop in here to say that I hope you left inspired and encouraged after hearing Cassandra's story. If you are blessed with everything that Cassandra was lacking, then I hope this motivates you to reach whatever goal you seek to achieve, because if she can do it, you can do it too. And if you're like Cassandra and our first generation college student looking for your own resources and mentors, then, friend, she is proof of what is possible for you. And that is what I'm here for my friend, to bring you someone who is living, breathing, proof of what is possible for you too. This podcast is filled with resources that will walk along this journey with you. But, friend, you do have to put in some work. So connect with me via Instagram, at soniacac, and that's s-o-n-i-a-dot-c-a-c-i-q-u-e, and feel free to DM me and share with me how I can support you in your journey. I want to see our community continue to grow. Thank you, friend.