"I want to move mountains," says Raquel Arroyo, a first-generation student pursuing bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting.

An ambitious student with a goal of working in private equity for a major accounting firm, Arroyo is already using her skills and experiences to help others.

Through her semester serving as an ACCESS Peer Mentor, she helped new students find their way at UNT. She also is a member of the Green Jackets, a UNT service and spirit organization, and the President's Student Advisory Committee, where she represents the first-generation student body. She also is active in Beta Alpha Psi, an international honor organization for accounting students.

Since her first semester at UNT in Fall 2022, she's worked with the First-Generation Success Center as a student assistant, connecting students with the resources they need and giving them the opportunity to speak to someone who understands their feelings and struggles.

"It fulfills that supporter in me, especially because being first-gen is such a big part of who I am," she says.

Being the first in her family to attend college, Arroyo was initially overwhelmed by UNT's size and the number of resources available, but she also has found her time at UNT exciting.

"Any little experience that I get now that I'm here, I'm like, 'This is the best thing ever,'" she says. "It makes me want to teach everybody everything that I'm learning."

Originally choosing accounting on a whim, Arroyo wants to use her degree to give back to her community through partnering with organizations such as her old high school and local libraries in Waco to teach financial literacy.

"I really am so passionate about financial literacy and being able to teach people," she says. "It's not something that's taught in schools."

Through the support she's received from her professors, advisors, career coaches and others, Arroyo has broadened the scope of what she wants to achieve.

"My perspective has just completely shifted," she says. "UNT has really given me the space to explore what I want to do and then helped me actually get there."