first generation students

Maria Jose Ubiergo-Davis

Maria Jose Ubiergo-Davis

After graduating from Queens College, City University of New York with her bachelors in economics, and then her masters in risk management, Maria Jose Ubiergo-Davis, worked in corporate insurance for seven years. When she decided it was time to pursue further...

Ariel Deljanin

Ariel Deljanin

Ariel Deljanin ‘21 had a very unique application process applying to Lehigh because she was recruited for rowing.  She said applied to Lehigh after having already signed to Lehigh’s rowing team.  Being a first-generation student, however, Deljanin still felt a little...

Jennifer Mertz

Jennifer Mertz

Employee at the Lehigh Financial Aid office,  Jennifer Mertz, is more than familiar with the challenges and the struggles that first-generation college students face, as she was one herself.  Mertz said going into the college process knowing her parents were...

Carol Obando-Derstine

Carol Obando-Derstine

On a normal work day at the office of Senator Bob Casey, Carol Obando-Derstine started to develop an interest in energy, and before she knew it, it blossomed into a full blown passion.  Obando-Derstine immigrated to America from Columbia when she was just a child with...

Adrian Suarez

Adrian Suarez

Adrian Suarez ’22 said he sought out Lehigh for its generous financial aid.  It was just him and his computer, he said, googling different types of schools and different types of financial aid packages, and Lehigh was the best fit.  Suarez is an international...

Candace Donegan

Candace Donegan

In high school, Candace Donegan ‘23, may have been struggling to find out where exactly she wanted to do so, but she always knew that she was going to college.  “I really wanted to be that first one,” said Donegan. “Despite what other people say, I just wanted it for...

Steven Escobar-Mendez

Steven Escobar-Mendez

Steven Escobar-Mendez is no person to falter in the face of adversity, and his journey to Lehigh is proof of that. Escobar-Mendez '22 grew up in the Washington D.C area in a predominantly immigrant community, where much of his college life was seen as a non-option....

Jia Cao

Jia Cao

Graduate student Jia Cao, is the first of her immediate family, and one of the few people in her extended family to get an undergraduate degree.  However, Cao wanted to take it one step further, and upon her graduation from Ohio State University with a Bachelors in...

Thera Hibbler

Thera Hibbler

When it was time for Thera Hibbler ’22 to apply to college, she had one place and one place only on her mind: Lehigh University.  Hibbler, a resident in the Lehigh Valley, always wanted to be a chemical engineer, and thought Lehigh would be the perfect place to pursue...

First Generation Student Celebration Week

Each year we honor and celebrate the excellence of the First-Generation scholars
in our community with a week-long celebration close to November 8, which is National First-Generation
College Student Day! Events include speakers, workshops, fun get-togethers and more. Events are open
to all, but center the experiences of First-Generation students. What is First-Generation, you may ask?
We consider students and scholars to be First-Generation if their parent(s) or guardian(s) did not
complete a 4-year degree at a college or university in the United States.