For most students, attending college is a momentous experience.

That is especially true for the nearly 42% of UNT undergraduates who arrive at UNT as the first in their immediate families to go to college. The decisions of these students to pursue higher education can have significant, far-reaching impacts not only on their own lives and careers, but also on their families and communities around them.

"What we're trying to do on campus is to create a mindset of empowerment," says Desiree Padron ('09, '13 M.P.A.), the first director of UNT's First-Generation Success Center who was a first-generation student herself.

Ensuring that all students -- including first-generation students -- are well-prepared for the future is a top priority at UNT. By offering a variety of programs and support services, UNT strives to ensure all of its students find a path to success. Programs like UNT's Emerald Eagle Scholars program, which targets incoming freshmen with a total family income of $65,000 or less, helps students find the financial resources to afford college while also providing a strong support system for their academics and requiring campus engagement.

And the First-Generation Success Center, which launched in 2021, helps connect students to needed resources by working with campus partners to develop workshops and presentations on topics like campus resources, financial literacy, career preparation, academic coaching and more.

"I've seen what happens when students don't have that support or intervention services, and it can be life-changing," Padron says. "Our students have so much potential and so much to give and share, and they have these amazing reasons behind their goals and why they chose UNT. I'm happy that we're here to help their goals come to fruition."

Since the center opened, Capital One has been a signature sponsor and has helped fund many of the center's programs. Capital One's senior director of social innovation, Monica Shortino ('01), is a first-generation college graduate, so she knows this kind of support is invaluable.

"We believe these students will be wildly successful if they have the resources they need,"Shortino says. "Programs like the First-Generation Success Center help make that happen. Helping students achieve living-wage jobs also helps make our community stronger."

Scott Brown contributed to this story.

Read stories of several first-generation alumni who have gone on to make their own community stronger after earning a degree from UNT.

Walter 'Wall-E' Barraza

Co-Founder, Chief Creative
Officer, WALO

During his career, Walter "Wall-E" Barraza ('06) has created marketing and advertising campaigns and collateral for some of the world's best-known brands, including Samsung, Fruit of the Loom, Miller Lite and NBC Universal.

But there's no telling how his life may have turned out had his family not fled civil war-torn El Salvador when he was 4 years old and started over in the Dallas suburbs.

"My parents always pushed me and my siblings -- 'Whatever you do, do more, be better' -- and they wanted us to go to college," he says. "I almost felt like I had that duty and responsibility to repay them for what they'd done for us."

Barraza took his first art class in high school. At his teacher's insistence, he entered a painting in an art contest and won a scholarship to a school in Georgia, where he planned to attend college.

That plan changed after he briefly attended Dallas College's North Lake campus before transferring to UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design, where he earned a bachelor's in communication design.

"The program's really tough," he says. "It's designed to build you and mold you into what the industry demands."

Barraza says he struggled at times as a first-generation student. "I had no path laid out for me or someone saying, 'Hey, this is what I did. You should follow this or tweak it to you and your needs.'"

He worked two jobs during his first year at UNT and applied for multiple scholarships and grants to fund his education. "I did whatever I needed to do," he says. That included landing a pair of internships with area advertising firms.

After graduating, Barraza worked at a couple of Dallas advertising agencies and firms in Los Angeles and Houston. Along the way, he met his longtime friend and colleague, Lalo Durán, and they founded WALO Creative in 2014.

Less than a year after opening the Dallas agency, they landed their first big account with Mexican soda brand Jarritos. WALO has since created impactful work for companies including 7-Eleven, Reliant Energy and, most recently, Academy Sports + Outdoors.

Barraza, who is WALO's chief creative officer, mentors high school students and encourages them to pursue their education and career goals.

"I talk to them and let them know my experiences and let them pick my brain and just help them make a decision," he says. "I want to show them a blueprint, a path to say, 'Hey, it's doable. I did it this way. You can do it.'"

Richard Gonzalez

Co-founder/CEO,
Petro-Victory Energy

Richard Gonzalez ('90) started his first company as a senior studying business at UNT when he produced a music festival, called "Fall Celebration," at the North Texas Fairgrounds in Denton.

The event was the launchpad for a successful entrepreneurial career that has spanned 30 years, during which he has employed thousands of people and served as an international diplomat.

"I always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur in the business world. It's just something that I dreamed of," says Gonzalez, a first-generation American whose Brazilian mother and Paraguayan father immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s. "My parents taught me to dream big."

In 2006, Gonzalez, who graduated with a bachelor's in business administration with a focus on finance, co-founded Dallas-based Petro-Victory Energy Corp. and serves as its CEO.

The publicly traded company has more than three dozen government-granted contracts to engage in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas throughout Brazil. It's similar to business he previously conducted in Paraguay and Guatemala.

Gonzalez funded his college education as a first-generation student by working at an accounting firm.

He described his time at UNT as "an absolute game changer. I was learning in a classroom and getting some practical, real-life education," he said. "Studying at North Texas and learning the intricacies of business and then being able to go to work and seeing it in practice was a great foundation for me."

A former UNT Foundation board member, in 2006 Gonzalez was presented the UNT President's Citation for his service and support of the university. He dedicated the award to his parents. "I might have done the work, but I would not have had the opportunity had it not been for them."

UNT "changed my life," he said. "It's a big part of my life. It was a huge part then and it still is today."

While operating Petro-Victory Energy in Paraguay, that nation's president invited Gonzalez to represent the country as an honorary consul and fully registered U.S. diplomat.

"That was a tremendous experience because I worked closely with the ambassador in Washington, D.C., and was able to represent my father's country for several years," Gonzalez said. "It was an honor and privilege to be able to do that."

Gonzalez credits the sacrifices his parents made for his family coupled with his education for his success. "Going to school and graduating from the University of North Texas and getting a strong education is the base that you build it all from."

Asiah Claiborne

Director of student transition, UT Dallas

Growing up, Asiah Claiborne ('17) assumed higher education wouldn't figure into her future. Now, it's her livelihood.

"Honestly, I had no idea what college even was," says Claiborne, director of student transition programs at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she previously served as assistant director of student union programs.

While Claiborne was attending high school in Denton, a friend's mother who worked at the school introduced her to a college prep program through TRIO, a federal outreach and student services program for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income and first-generation college students.

The daughter of a single mother and high school GED recipient, Claiborne qualified for TRIO and went on to participate in its Upward Bound Math-Science program, attending several of its annual summer academic camps that formerly were hosted at UNT.

"The program is how I fell in love with UNT," she says. "We worked with professors on campus and got to meet students who were going there. The spirit and the camaraderie on campus is what sold me."

As a first-generation student, Claiborne continued in TRIO at UNT, got involved with its Student Support Services program and worked for the former Upward Bound program on campus as a summer camp resident advisor and student program activity coordinator.

Her college education was funded entirely through scholarships and by working jobs on and off campus. A hostess at a local Texas Roadhouse restaurant, she also was a student assistant, and as a senior, worked the front desk at the Division of Student Affairs office as a student assistant with the NT40 organization. Claiborne volunteered with the Talons spirit and traditions organization and the Alternative Breaks program, among others.

After graduating from UNT debt free with a bachelor's in integrative studies that focused on behavior analysis, counseling and psychology, Claiborne earned a master's in college student personnel administration at Illinois State University.

Claiborne was a founding member of the UNT Young Alumni Network and has served in leadership and committees of several UNT alumni organizations, including the Black Alumni Network and the Denton County Alumni Network chapter.

In 2019, she was hired as coordinator of student organizations at UNT and developed training, workshops and services for more than 400 student organizations. At UT Dallas, she continues to work closely with students.

"I want to give back," she says. "I want to be that person who helps others rise to the occasion and navigate who they are and what they want to do."

Martin Godoy

Flute instructor,
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD

Martin Godoy ('20 D.M.A.) always has been what he calls "a high-achiever."

As a first-generation student, "It was important for me to go to school and make a name for my family," he says. "I felt like I always had to prove myself."

Drawn to classical music at an early age, he was assigned by a junior high school band director to play euphonium -- despite having his heart set on flute.

Godoy eventually switched to flute and went on to win several local, regional and state music awards in high school. After earning a bachelor's in music education and a master's in music performance at the University of Texas Arlington, he began studying for a D.M.A. in flute performance at UNT's College of Music.

At UNT, he performed with the Symphony Orchestra, Opera Orchestra and the new music ensemble Nova, directed by principal flute lecturer Elizabeth McNutt, who guided him in learning new music notations and techniques. "I'm very thankful for everything that she's poured into me," he says.

In 2018, he made headlines by winning first place in the Texas Flute Society's prestigious Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition. One of the highest-level international flute competitions, he competed against musicians of all ages. That year, he also took top honors at UNT's William Gammon Henry Concerto Competition.

"I was gobsmacked," he recalls. Godoy funded his education by working as a private music instructor as well
as a color guard technician and director at Grapevine-Colleyville ISD's Colleyville Heritage High School, where he now serves as a flute instructor and director of its national championship-winning Diamonds Color Guard team.

Teaching music "has always been my dream," he says.

Godoy strives to be the type of mentor for his students that he needed as a young musician. "I tell my students that I'm teaching them to be good citizens, not music majors. Do I want them to be music majors? Yes. But my goal is to teach them to appreciate the arts and to support the arts."

Joy Moonan

Attorney

Joy ('14) and Laura Moonan ('15) always knew they'd be the first in their family to attend college.

The twin sisters are first-generation Americans born to immigrant parents from the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The women got a jump on completing their bachelor's degrees -- Joy in criminal justice, Laura with dual degrees in applied behavior analysis and sociology -- by taking dual-credit courses in high school.

When they started at UNT in 2011 as Emerald Eagle Scholars, Laura already had 15 credit hours under her belt, and Joy was just a few credit hours shy of being a junior.

The women -- who participated in the TRIO federal outreach and student services program that assists low-income, first-generation and other qualifying college students -- say the assistance they received at UNT through tutoring opportunities, coupled with career-focused workshops and services, made all the difference in their respective college experiences.

Joy, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was elected to the UNT Student Senate and helped develop new legislative and institutional policies. As an appointed member of UNT's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advisory Committee, she advocated for students with disabilities and participated in planning discussions for the current University Union building to ensure their needs were considered in its design.

"I wanted to be able to make changes on campus," says Joy, who always knew she wanted to be an attorney. After graduating from UNT, she earned her juris doctor degree at UNT Dallas College of Law and is now a lawyer in Dallas. Throughout her career, she has worked with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, the Disability Rights Texas agency and other volunteer-attorney initiatives across the state to provide pro bono legal services to low-income clients and those with disabilities.

Laura Moonan

Project analyst/manager

Laura is a Dallas-based project analyst and manager who has worked for companies including TD Bank, Bank of America and Cleveland Clinic. At UNT, she was active in the Green Jackets service and spirit organization, University Program Council and UNT Sociology Club. She also visited multiple countries while participating in the Study Abroad program and went on to serve as a global ambassador through the Semester at Sea program. "Studying abroad helped me grow personally and professionally," she says.

"At UNT, there were so many things available to students,” she recalls. “I just wanted to get out there and try and do things that were outside of my comfort zone."

Online extra
Make a donation to the First-Generation Success Center.

Catch up with first-generation student Fatima Macias Ortiz, who we followed in 2021 in her freshman year.

Read about the lessons first-generation alum Michael Guyette ('90), CEO of VSP Vision, learned during his career journey.