first-generation

Born and raised in Paris, France, Ava Uppal, BS Marketing ’19, fondly recalls baking with her mother and turning simple ingredients into heartfelt memories. Now, as a part-time MBA student and a working mother of two, she’s a small business owner and author of a new cookbook.

Alizé Rubiera is the first ADVANCE Mason Virginia Promise student to enroll at the university. She comes to George Mason from Germanna Community College.

A team from George Mason University is using augmented reality (AR) to create a smartphone app that will provide first-generation ADVANCE students with a virtual campus tour of the Fairfax Campus as they prepare to transfer from Northern Virginia Community College.

Sisc Johnson, a George Mason University School of Art student and staff member, will be the first in her family to graduate from college this May.

In the Feather Identification Lab at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Mason alum Carla Dove identifies the specific birds involved in collisions, with samples coming to her from various branches of the U.S. military, commercial airlines, and more

A double major and member of the Honors College, Juan Escalera came to Mason as an alumnus of the university’s Early Identification Program.

Mason’s first-generation students are no strangers to overcoming bias or barriers to attend college. Their remarkable tenacity keeps them striving for more.

Mason psychology doctoral student Rafael Esaú Hernández Dubon thrives in his work as a bilingual student clinician. With the support of a Graduate Inclusion and Access (GIA) Scholarship, he is able to work in the Latinx community while pursuing his graduate studies.

Sophia Ramirez participated in Mason’s Early Identification Program. Now she is a University Scholar in the Honors College, majoring in history.

Mason incoming freshmen Jacie Hernandez, Linh Vu, and Neyda Gonzalez spent six weeks on campus this summer as a part of the Student Transition Empowerment Program (STEP)