Gina Rivera Graduates from UCLA

“I started at City College of San Francisco and transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles and I am very grateful for the help from Alive & Free.  The financial literacy class taught me to be disciplined, which I needed. Being a transfer student, I didn’t have the option of messing up like the new students. I didn’t have the financial backing to mess up.  

Alive & Free helped me stay focused and to recognize and listen to my background music and notice the red flags. They also taught me to to keep my culture and to find and share my community so I could be my best.
My major was Latin American studies.  This was important for the discovery of my own identity, I didn’t know what it meant to be Puerto Rican.  I got to focus on my people to learn about myself and other Latinos and how we’re all connected. I think my undergrad major was for my personal goal and who I want to be as a teacher. Now I’m teaching at a school in Las Vegas, NV where the students look like me. I’m an eighth grade teacher and help kids who need behavioral and academic assistance. 

It’s important to build your own community of support. Work on finding your people and always be yourself. There’s always a community for you no matter who you are.”