Pablo Orantes ‘04 ‘07

Pablo Orantes ‘04 ‘07

My Name is Pablo Orantes and I am a first generation college student.  I come from Guatemala and my family came to the United States at the age of 10.  I attended High School in Queens, NY.  I graduated from Saint Peter’s University in 2004 with a Bachelors in Computer Science (MIS).  I started working in the Admissions office as I graduated in May where I had worked as a Federal Work Study student for a year and a half.  After working for admissions for 3 years I switched over to the Financial Aid Office where I have been there since.

As a first generation student whose parents spoke very little English combined with no College experience I felt that I did not have anyone to give me advice about the College environment.  As I first started attending SPC, it took me a few months to get acclimated to college life, especially living on campus and having the independence from my parents not being around to watch over me regarding my classes, homework or tests or even attending classes.  What helped me the most was the attention I received from my professors and staff who knew me by name and many even knew about me in and out of the class room which helped me not get lost during the four years and be able to accomplish my parents goal which was to graduate from College which they worked hard for. Any time I would feel like I was not able to obtain the scores I needed I always found the help either via a professor, an advisor or a tutor or a fellow classmate.   As I now work at Saint Peter’s University I had always wanted to give back and be able to educate all students the same way or more than what I was provided while I was a student and hopefully I can keep doing for as long as possible now as a staff member at the institution and even after.