Candy Alfaro welcomes fellow first-generation, low-income students to campus

Growing up in the small farming town of Soledad, Calif., college seemed like a far-off idea for Candy Alfaro. 

The first-born of four siblings, Alfaro, a natural leader, forged a path of firsts in her family. She was the first in her family to learn English, first to graduate from high school and first to head to college.

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Now a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, she credits her parents, Mexican-born farm workers, for her drive and determination.

“I am here because of their hard work,” she says, “because of their sacrifices and ability to accomplish a lot with what they were given. They are both very sharp.”

When applying to college, Alfaro sought a school that would provide her with broader life experiences. For her, that meant looking for a place far away from her close-knit family; it meant leaving everything familiar to her.

Penn’s need-blind admissions and financial-aid package made Alfaro’s far-off idea of college possible.

But “the transition was rough on the whole family. For me, it was living in a new environment. For them, it was not having me around every day and missing milestones.”

Soon after her arrival on campus as a 17-year-old freshman, Alfaro connected with Penn First, a student-run organization that assists first-generation, low-income, or FGLI, students with support and guidance to help navigate university life.

She says she will never forget the early acts of kindness from upperclassmen involved in the FGLI community, and she saw an opportunity to get involved.

“There were a lot of small things that needed change or improvement for FGLI students and I wanted to be a part of the movement that made that happen,” says Alfaro, who was elected to Penn First’s board as its communications chair in her sophomore year.

Since its inception in 2015, Penn First has informed campus culture and advocated on behalf of FGLI students, and Alfaro has been there every step of the way.

The organization was instrumental in the establishment of the First-Generation, Low-Income Center in the Greenfield Intercultural Center and arranging an advanced move-in date with special programming for FGLI students during New Student Orientation.​​​​​​

This year, Alfaro, who is studying communications and public service in the Annenberg School for Communication and minoring in legal studies and history in the Wharton School, is serving as Penn First’s inter-collegiate chair, which includes sharing information with organizations at other institutions and planning FGLI Week later this spring.

Almost 3,000 miles away from home, Alfaro has embraced her familial roots, heritage and culture as a Penn student and as a volunteer with “Puentes Hacia el Futuro,” or “Bridges Toward the Future,” an after-school program for elementary school students in the South Philadelphia Latino immigrant community that focuses on Spanish and English literacy.​​​​

​​​In addition to engaging locally, Alfaro is also living out another of the principles embodied in the Penn Compact 2020, working to advance the idea of inclusion and access to higher education through her ongoing work with FGLI community on campus and nationally.

In mid-February, she co-directed the 1vyG Conference at Penn, bringing together student leaders and administrators representing 22 colleges and universities to celebrate the resiliency, success and determination of FGLI students.

“It was very fitting that the largest FGLI conference would be hosted here. While the FGLI movement is just gaining momentum across the country, at Penn, the FGLI community is already strong and active,” Alfaro says.

Alfaro, alongside co-organizer Anea Moore, a junior from Philadelphia, Pa., Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, Provost Wendell Pritchett, and Penn President Amy Gutmann welcomed 1vyG Conference attendees during its opening ceremony at Irvine Auditorium.

A first-generation college student herself, President Gutmann said now, students who are considered first-generation or high financial need make up more than one-quarter of the incoming class at Penn, which only became possible when the University committed itself to increasing access to talented students from every background.

“Being surrounded by some of the most talented and driven students in the country was nothing short of exhilarating,” Gutmann said. “As has been proven time and time again, increased access equals increased opportunity. I am proud of the network these students have built to support one another and to support future generations of students.”

In addition to planning the conference and being actively involved with Penn First and “Puentes Hacia el Futuro,” Alfaro is the vice president of external affairs for the 2019 Class Board and a member of the co-ed pre-law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta, and she participates in two on-campus work-study jobs. She is also a tour guide for Kite and Key Society, as well as a social media staffer at The Daily Pennsylvanian student newspaper.

After graduation, Alfaro plans on joining the Peace Corps and later attending graduate school or law school followed by work in education policy. Eventually, she wants to move back to her hometown and work for the community that shaped her.