Alumni panel offers first-gen students advice on navigating career search
Imposter syndrome. Rejection letters. Family pressure. Unpaid internships. The alumni at this year’s First-Gen Panel didn’t sugarcoat their early career experiences and helped students understand what to expect from their own job searches.
Hosted by the First-Generation Student Association, in association with the Student Alumni Relations Committee, the April 11 panel featured Rafael Molina ’17, Ibeth Alvarracin ’23, and Olivia Blaney ’23, M.S. ’24, all of them the first in their families to earn college degrees. Clark defines a first-gen student as someone without a parent or guardian who has completed a bachelor’s degree.
For current first-gen students, the panel was an opportunity to hear directly from people who have lived with the same questions, stresses, and successes — and who emerged stronger for it.
The panel kicked off with a conversation about what it was like starting out at Clark. Molina, who majored in economics and history and is now a senior consultant at EY and a member of the Hispanics Achievement and Celebration of Excellence Committee at Quinsigamond Community College, spoke about struggling to navigate a system he didn’t grow up in. “I did not understand the American education system in general,” said the Dominican Republic native. “I didn’t know I had to take all these tests … it was a cultural clash.”
For Blaney, who majored in environmental science, support from campus offices was vital.
“The first-gen office offered summer funding scholarships, which allowed me to get more involved and do internships I might not have done otherwise,” said Blaney, who recently secured a position as a sustainability coordinator at Eversource Energy.
Alvarracin, a clinical surgery assistant preparing to enter veterinary school, majored in biology and Spanish at Clark. She recalled leaning hard into faculty connections. “I created very strong relationships with a lot of professors,” she said. “There were many times I had imposter syndrome, but it was the advice from professors with similar stories that encouraged me to keep going.”
All three panelists had stories about wrestling with imposter syndrome. Blaney reflected on struggling in science classrooms. “I felt like I wasn’t smart enough or supposed to be there,” she recalled. “But making connections and seeing where we’re all at in our careers helped me feel like I belonged.”
For Alvarracin, those doubts reared their head during senior year. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to finish this degree. Why did I do this?’” she recalled thinking.
Sitting down with faculty mentors helped to alleviate the feeling that she didn’t belong, something she also experienced during her master’s program. “My advisor told me, ‘You got into this program for a reason. You can do this.’”
Molina offered perspectives from both sides of the college-career transition. “Imposter syndrome never really goes away. You learn to handle it,” he said. “You’re probably doing way more than you give yourself credit for.”
Post-grad life has challenges, too. Alvarracin described the stress of facing rejections when applying to veterinary school and recalibrating her expectations. “Rejection is okay,” she said. “That’s going to happen multiple times in life.” It was through her perseverance that these rejections eventually transformed into triumph. Alvarracin finished her master’s degree in animals and public policy from Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and is planning to start veterinary school in Puerto Rico next fall.
Molina described working in various jobs before finding his footing. “Even being the first in my family to have a degree, I still felt unworthy,” he added as each panelist nodded in agreement. “But school isn’t the end of your evolution. You have to keep exploring. We’re young as hell.”
Molina felt he didn’t apply himself as best he could as an undergraduate, so a graduate degree was about redemption. He received a management degree from the Harvard Extension School. “I wanted to prove myself wrong,” he said. “Just because you didn’t do great back then doesn’t mean you’ll be in the same boat now.”
Blaney completed her master’s in environmental science and policy through Clark’s 4+1 Accelerated Master’s Degree program. She advised the students to be persistent, which may mean working in various positions before landing the job that’s right for them. “The experience really does matter, even more than I expected,” she said.
The panel wrapped with the question: What advice would you give to first-gen students? Each panelist broached the subject distinctly.
“Don’t give up,” Alvarracin said. “Not following the traditional path is okay.” She encouraged students to reach out to people in professions that interest them, even if just to narrow the fields they want to pursue.
Molina broke his response into three points: “One: Embrace your story. Two: Get good mentorship. Three: Invest in yourself. Keep evolving and learning. Don’t follow just a paycheck or a trend.”
Blaney emphasized perspective. “Yes, it’s serious, but it’s not that serious. A bad grade won’t derail your life. Just send that email. Reach out.”
