I’m Jessica Rodriguez, a current undergrad Accounting student in the BS/MS degree program. I have held five internships, (soon to be six this spring) with a wide range of companies, big and small, including two with Ernst and Young, Wells Fargo, Holly C. Roundtree, Capin Crouse and soon Lane Gorman Trubitt.

As a first gen student, I realized that many of my first gen classmates had not begun their internship journey as upperclassmen. After having conversations with different students, I realized that this was a lot more common due to fear or overwhelming feelings of not knowing where to start. Even for myself, when I had my first internship as a sophomore, I was a bit clueless and I had to do a lot of research on my end to teach myself how to interview, how to look for these opportunities, and how to network. It might seem like second nature to some, but when you're a first gen student, you're kind of doing these things blindly and without a network to support you. 

After participating in a couple on campus panels thanks to senior academic counselor Christine Ellis and presenting at this year’s TXCPA Woman's Symposium, I realized that I could start making a small difference in my community. I started mentoring freshman on my own time. This was before learning about UNT’s mentoring program.

Once I learned about UNT’s program, I partnered up, and I now mentor six girls—five UNT students and one Collin College student, who are all first gen students. My goal is to save them time and teach them about their available resources, interview etiquette, resume building, the importance of networking, and being involved. I also teach them how to look for internships or jobs of their interest.

I'm just one person, but I'm a strong believer that change starts with one. Learning about these things might seem a little early for some, but I think it's the perfect time to be introduced and start shaping goals for the future. 

…My goal at the end of the day is to provide others what I wish I could have had for myself when I was in their shoes.