Matiana De Alba had beat the family record. 

She had attended Purdue University for six weeks and a day, just longer than her dad lasted at college decades before.  

Just weeks later, though, she was ready to call it quits in the fall of 2022.  

Matiana De Alba, a member of the First Generation Engineers student advisory board, likes being a mentor to new first-gen students.

As much as Purdue felt like home, De Alba struggled to settle in. As a first-generation student, she had no roadmap, and the diversity of challenges — financial aid, housing and the rigorous flow of classes — made keeping up feel more overwhelming than doable. 

She feared asking the wrong questions would reveal that she was new to the college experience. The next eight weeks felt daunting. 

“There was so much I didn't know because no one around me knew,” De Alba said. “It felt weird to ask peers about financial aid or college stuff because for them, it was stuff they already knew. Stuff that their parents already knew and told them.” 

Then De Alba got an email from Amy Wagner, assistant director for student success in the College of Engineering, that piqued her interest. Wagner was hosting a callout meeting for first-gen students. It was the perfect opportunity to meet others who may share the questions De Alba was scared to voice. 

De Alba joined the First Generation Engineers (FGE) student advisory board in 2023. The board, currently 14 students, curates events celebrating the first-gen experience and connecting students to faculty who were also proud first-gen students. 

One of the board’s goals is to provide new students answers for any looming questions, like financial aid or class expectations. The board creates a consistent stream of email content for prospective and incoming students, packed with information about resources, how to access them and a reassurance that they are not alone. Not to mention that, when new FGE students arrive on campus, they are aware of a community who gets them and their experiences. 

De Alba had that realization firsthand, sitting in a meeting with her first-gen classmates and colleagues. 

“I’m surrounded with people who also want to grow and learn, people that I can gain knowledge from,” said De Alba, a junior in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. “FGE is also a supportive community that helps with that growth and makes me into a better person, a better friend, a better engineer. 

“My first year I was too scared to ask stupid questions. Now, if any of my mentees asked me, I can say, ‘Oh my gosh, you're asking totally the right questions. Those are the same ones I had as a first year.’” 

De Alba is grateful to be a mentor for new first-gen students and is especially appreciative that her parents are supportive of her Purdue journey.

“I call my mom every day,” De Alba said. “Sometimes I'll tell her, ‘These root locus plots are just impossible,’ and she's like, ‘Locust, like the bug?’ I explain it, and she says, ‘Yeah, I have no clue.’ But my parents keep me grounded in my goals and remind me it’s OK to make mistakes.” 

The community she found and continues to build in FGE has shifted her attitude toward mistakes and trying new paths, like AAE. Every approach — and, sometimes, re-approach— becomes a learning experience she can pass on to mentees. Often, they’re bonding points with other FGE students who did the same thing. 

“I knew I would find a place here from the first time I visited Purdue,” De Alba said. “I came to visit a second time in the dead of February. We were driving down I-65 in ice storms. I had just had knee surgery. On my tour that day, I thought, ‘Wow, these are the worst circumstances I can do this under and I still want to go here.’ 

“I have been able to survive and thrive because of other first gens.”