{"id":20051,"date":"2024-12-12T17:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T17:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/alumni\/?p=20051"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:41:31","slug":"30-seconds-with-an-alum-building-belonging-as-a-first-generation-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/alumni\/news\/2024\/12\/12\/30-seconds-with-an-alum-building-belonging-as-a-first-generation-student","title":{"rendered":"30 seconds with an alum: Building belonging as a first-generation student\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Alumna Jennifer Maglalang, American Studies \u201899, navigated the world of education with determination, perseverance, and curiosity. Raised in a small village in Alaska, she was limited to the opportunities available within the company-owned property she grew up on. Her experiences as a first-generation college student led her to a career in social work and higher education. Today, she serves as the current Director of Admissions at <a href=\"https:\/\/socialwork.uw.edu\/\">UW\u2019s School of Social Work<\/a> in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hometown:<\/strong> King Cove, Alaska<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What can you remember about being a first-generation student?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had two professors (Jennifer Schultz and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/ias\/faculty-and-staff\/david-goldstein\">David S. Goldstein<\/a>) who I took several classes with consistently because it was a small community back then. They took an interest in me and really fostered and developed my skills. They were such great encouragers and cheerleaders saying, \u201cYou do awesome work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming from an environment where I didn\u2019t necessarily have that kind of support, I still try to do similar things for other people. I&#8217;ve had that modeled for me, so I want to give back whenever I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there a key memory from your time at UW Bothell that is meaningful?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I loved the small community. I got to know folks really well, particularly my professors. I remember going to my graduation ceremony, and those two professors came up in their robes and floppy hats and said, \u201cOh my gosh, you got <em>magna cum laude<\/em>!\u201d They were so happy for me, and they were just so excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think that\u2019s a good representation of how I felt overall. I just always felt like someone was paying attention to me and recognizing the work that I had done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How has being a first-generation student impacted your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are so many things I think I learned from being a first-gen student in terms of having perseverance and resourcefulness and asking for help \u2014 finding people who want to be in your corner for support and really leaning into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s such a core part of my identity. It\u2019s a motivator \u2014 a catalyst for lots of things like creative problem-solving, thinking outside of the box and being curious about the folks who are not at the table. That\u2019s where I center my lens and experience: on those who are at the margins or the most underrepresented, particularly in traditional systems of higher education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jennifer Maglalang reveals the importance of a supportive community in her own life and how these values have shaped her commitment to uplifting underrepresented voices in higher education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":599,"featured_media":20052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,25,20,21,16],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-20051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-30-seconds-with-an-alum","category-alumni-profile","category-husky-student-experience","category-regional-workforce-development","category-school-of-interdisciplinary-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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