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We talk with Kelly O’Neal of Texas A&M Universityabout getting drafted into minor league baseball and starting college later with almost no roadmap.

Kelley starting college at a community college as a non-traditional student while working full time. He talks to us about how he defines “success” as stability while still not knowing the rules of college and why a grandparent’s degree does not always translate into social capital.

Along with La'Tonya, Kelley co-founded the Black First Gen Collective, a national body, and in this episode he explains what people misunderstand about Black first gen students and the harm of treating communities as a monolith.

https://www.firstgenforward.org/our-initiatives/advocacy-and-policy/black-first-gen-collective

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We sit down with Melissa Bordenave to unpack how work-study opened doors at LMU and how financial aid counseling becomes life-changing support for first gen and independent students.

This is Melissa’s origin story for her advocacy with first-generation college students and what led to her partnership with Dr. LT Miles. Together they built a strong relationship to ensure that first generation college students, from all backgrounds, received a level of attention, intention, care, and empathy that allowed them to thrive within their undergraduate education without wondering how they were going to pay for it.

We also dig into the real math behind aid gaps, the audacity it takes to push broken systems, and how those lessons carry from higher ed to LA28.

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We sit down with Hall of Fame athlete Anthony Ireland to trace his path from Waterbury, Connecticut to Loyola Marymount University to pro basketball in Europe and back home as a YMCA CEO. We talk honestly about being first-gen, getting mislabeled early, and turning adversity into a practical leadership skill.

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/