Episodes 24-27: Meet the Hosts

In these episodes, each of our current hosts will introduce themselves and share with our audience a little about their own personal first-gen stories. 

In this episode you will hear from: 

Episode 24: Meet Cody

Hi, my name is Cody Dailey and I am one of the Co-Hosts of the How to College: First Gen podcast. As a First Generation student growing up in rural parts of Ohio and Illinois, my mother always made academic excellence and college the expectations. However, there was one big missing piece - how to pay for it. See, I grew up in a low-income, single parent household, so being ready for college was not an issue but actually paying for it created more questions than answers.

In this episode, you’ll hear how a local scholarship program, called the George Washington Gale Scholars, helped me discover that I was a First Generation student and helped me pay for my college degrees at Carl Sandburg College and Knox College. You’ll also hear about the highs and lows of my college experience and how a post-college experience helped lead me to my eventual career as a Postsecondary School Counselor. I take all of the lessons I have learned along the way and use those to assist the next generation of first gen students and help them find career clarity and success. Enjoy!

Episode 25: Meet Norma

Hi all, Norma here- one of the co-founders and co-hosts of this podcast. I was born in Mexico and grew up undocumented in Texas. I am the first one in my family to graduate from college and then I went on to earn two additional Masters (Masters in Public Policy [MPP] and Masters in Business Administration [MBA]).

In this episode, you will hear about what it was like to be a low income, undocumented first generation college student at Rice and Harvard University. I will talk about the lows and highs and things I wished I knew sooner throughout my first gen journey.

Episode 26: Meet Dan

Hi, my name is Dan and I am one of the Co-Hosts of the How to College: First Gen podcast. I come from a large Puerto Rican family with over 10 aunts and uncles and over 40 cousins. In my early childhood, I moved around a lot but the one thing that was constant was my appreciation for my education. 

In this episode, you’ll hear about my first gen journey from when I first moved to Cleveland, Ohio, from the east coast, and how my life was radically changed forever. I will talk about the many different people and opportunities that came along that led me to excel in high school, attend multiple colleges and universities, and ultimately attend and graduate from an Ivy League university with no debt. I truly believe that the power of mentorship goes a long way and I hope you’ll see that too, after hearing my story.

Episode 27: Meet Luz 

Hi all, I’m Luz and I’m one of the co-founders and co-hosts for this podcast. I’m a Latinx first-generation low income student from Houston, Texas who has seen first hand how an education completely transformed my life. 

In this episode, you’ll hear how despite education not being a priority in my family, I was fortunate to have educators along my journey steer me in the right direction and provide the support to get me thinking about college and ultimately graduate from Rice University. You’ll also hear about some of the bumps along the way, what I think about when I think back at my college time, and how the journey continues after college.

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