Daniel Lopez

Danielle Aguilar

LEAD 1

College Transition Interview

For my interview, met up with Javier Ortega, a current senior, who I met during LEAD

Week. Like me, Javier is from San Jose and as such, knows the city and the area about as well as

me. As such, we were able to talk about some of the events that go on in the area and various

things that happened at our schools since we knew a couple of people from each other’s schools.

Javier came from Oak Grove High School, a public high school in South San Jose. For him, the

transition from high school to Santa Clara was not as easy as he would’ve liked. During his first

year, his roommate left the school and as such, he spent most of his first-year without a

roommate.

A little on the shy side, Javier found it a little difficult to connect with his LEAD peer

mentor group, floormates, and classmates. During his first year too, came the presidential

elections of 2016 and the controversies that accompanied. As such, he felt singled out and alone

as the political climate alone threatened his well being and that of his family. He eventually

found groups, however, such as LSU and study groups and eventually made friends in LEAD. As

for his academics, he was able to keep his grades up as he sought the help he needed to succeed.

He recommended really going to the Drahmann Center for tutoring and to ask older students and

to form study groups with other students. He said that breaking your shell is the hardest part but

after that, everything falls into place.

One of the bigger things we have in common was leaving our families despite being so

close to Santa Clara. Being first-gen, our parents have very little idea of what college is like and
are often unaware of all the work we have to do. In Javier’s case, his parents would question him

as to why he hadn’t visited and were unfamiliar with the idea that Javier would not have the time

to visit them. For me, this has been pretty similar as I have not been able to go home every

weekend as I have to go to work or finish my homework for the weekend. However, his family’s

attitude has changed drastically as he calls them when he’s free and they do not pester him

asking when he will be returning. He is able to have much more casual relationships with his

parents as well as he is no longer treated like a child and there is a much more laid back aspect to

his relationship with his parents. In addition, he recommended keeping in contact with them

occasionally and calling them when time permits just to update them on whatever goes on.

I thought it was interesting to talk to Javier as his experience has been pretty different

from mine. It was cool to compare as I feel I have had a pretty smooth transition to college. Of

course, his advice was invaluable and his insights provided me with a way to think about how

would deal with similar issues should they arise. His advice to use my resources is something

that I will definitely do because I know that eventually, I’m going to struggle in a class and that I

will need to find a way to keep my grades up and learn. Another thing that I am sure will change

is my relationship with my parents and the rest of my family. Whereas they would see me

everyday, each time that I go visit, they ask me how I’m doing and I have begun to see changes

in how my parents interact with me. I am able to have much more casual conversations and can

tell them so much more than if I were still living at home. Their level of trust for me has also

increased as they no longer get bothered if I tell them that I was out and about in the middle of

the night or if I was doing something not so safe. I am much more comfortable around them and

them around me as they see that I have matured and can be treated like an adult.