First-Generation Student Stories
Nearly half of our students are the first in their family to attend college. Many of our faculty and staff were also first-generation college students. We are proud to provide the education, resources, and support that help our first-gen students pursue their goals and forge a new path that will impact their family for generations to come. These profiles highlight just a few of these trailblazers.
Collins Hollis
He's always known he wanted to be a doctor. Now he’s making his dream come true.
From an early age Collins Hollis began focusing on his goal to become a doctor. It was something he dreamed about, but he wasn’t sure it could ever become a reality since no one in his immediate family had ever gone to college. Collins is an excellent student, so those around him encouraged him to give college a try. Collins enrolled at UC Blue Ash to continue pursuing his dream by taking the courses he needs to eventually apply to the UC College of Pharmacy and continue on his track toward becoming a Clinical Pharmacist.
Collins says UC Blue Ash has helped him make the transition to college right from the start – including his admission process, transfer credit review, and developing his academic plan. He knows that his progress so far represents a significant change and a new beginning for his family as he makes his dream come true through the power of education and believing in himself.
I always had a dream of becoming a doctor, but I didn't know how or when I would get there. After high school, my tutors and relatives encouraged me to go to college because I was a good student and they thought I would have a bright future. This accomplishment means a lot to me and my family.
Collins Hollis
Danni Proctor
She's a first-generation student pursuing a college degree to help others and make her family proud.
Danni Proctor is pursuing a degree in social work with the goal of helping those who are struggling find empowerment within themselves. She says her parents instilled the idea of going to college in her from a young age. They taught her about the value of education and the importance of hard work as the keys to achieving your goals.
Danni also credits the faculty and staff at UC Blue Ash with providing a comfortable environment for first-gen students. She says her professors are great, and she has benefited from tools and resources that are available, including the success seminar classes that help students with the transition to college. Danni says her family tells her at least once a week how proud they are and remind her how far she has come. She has a lot more steps to take on her journey to earning a degree, but she knows her family and her college are there to support her along the way.
Being the first in my family to attend college carries a lot of weight. Not in the sense that it all must go perfectly but in the sense that I am the first person to have this opportunity. I feel it is very important that I show them and myself that I can accomplish big things.
Danni Proctor
Hayley Burge
Inspired and encouraged by her parents, she intends to graduate with honors.
Hayley Burge is a communication major on the public relations track who attended UC Blue Ash for two years before transitioning to UC’s College of Arts & Sciences. Hayley’s parents are the driving influence in her becoming the first in her family to attend college. They often talk about how they regret never going to college, and how they want her to pursue a better future.
Hayley decided to forge a new path so she could advance her education, create more options for a career, and have the opportunity to do something she is passionate about. She was nervous during her first weeks on campus knowing that she had to figure out the different aspects of navigating higher education on her own. But the staff at UC Blue Ash helped her find the resources she needed, and she is thriving today as she works in a communications and events internship and is on schedule to graduate with honors in spring 2027.
I would tell other first-gen students to just go for it. I know it can be intimidating starting college without guidance or advice from your family, but it's really rewarding in the end to feel like you've accomplished it on your own. You are just as capable of succeeding as any other student.
Hayley Burge
Krysten Stein, PhD
She was a first-generation student from a working-class family; now she teaches at UC Blue Ash as an award-winning professor.
Krysten Stein is a UC alumna and UC Blue Ash professor who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication at the Uptown campus. She was inspired to go to college while growing up in a working-class family. She always imagined a different future for herself and wanted to see more of the world.
As the first in her family to attend college, Krysten spent a lot of time wondering whether she belonged. She felt like everyone else had received a handbook about college and academia that she had somehow missed. Today, she is Dr. Krysten Stein, an award-winning professor at UC Blue Ash who has the chance to travel the world as part of her research on popular media and culture. When she meets students who remind her of herself, Krysten makes sure to let them know that they belong here and that their experiences matter.
Being first-generation isn’t simply about crossing a stage with a diploma. It’s about learning a language your family never had the opportunity to learn.
Krysten Stein
Resources
Contact Information
Student Life & Success
Muntz Hall | Room 150
Phone: 513-558-9429
Email: ucblueashsls@uc.edu