My name is Tais Solis. I’m a junior currently at Wichita State University. I’m majoring in International Studies, double majoring in Spanish with a certificate in Latinx studies.

How did you decide to study abroad? 

Yeah so study abroad, at the beginning of college, it was never really an option for me. I’m a first-generation student, so really I come from a low-income background. So really college was like a really big step so studying abroad was like far for me, like uhh you know it's never going to happen kinda thing. But then sophomore year actually, I stopped at a study abroad tabling event that had at the student center on campus and I was just like ‘oh you know give me some information’ and then I was just like oh Spain, since you know I’m double majoring in Spanish I was just like why not you know get some information, so I attended an info session and then my credits do transfer from the school so it would be beneficial since it will count as an applied learning for my degree. So then I started looking into it and I applied for the Gilman Scholarship and that was a little time consuming, lots of essays and recommendation letters and a lot of hard work and at the beginning of May I found out that I received the scholarship!

What is your advice for first-gen students?

Some advice I would give to a first-gen student like myself is to always, like no matter what other people say, get the degree you want. If it’s art, music, math - do whatever feels right for you and even people will always tell me like ‘oh you won’t be able to afford college. Like your parents won’t afford it, you have to get out loans’. Well it’s possible, applying for scholarship senior year, or even as a transfer student, work for those scholarships, apply for them. Apply for as many schools as you want and the ones you want to get into, and just don’t listen to the rest. Do whatever feels right for you.

What inspired you to get a higher education?

I really like school, as nerdy as that sounds. I always enjoyed school and being like the best in class. And as, not necessarily like being the best student, but I just liked having the best grade and you know doing my best in school. So yeah for me it was more like I was born to go to school. Like some people they don’t want to go to school and I respect it, it’s not meant for everybody. I would say that all the time because one of my siblings didn't want to pursue a 4-year degree. So I definitely say if it feels right to you and you want to do it and you have higher aspirations, then go for it.

What are some resources you recommend for students? 

The first resources I used in high school were definitely reaching out to counselors. Because my counselor helped me with scholarship links, or like filling out FAFSA, like FAFSA workshop which is for federal student aid. They helped me fill it out because I had no idea what it was, nor my parents, so definitely that. And yeah your counselors can help you with resumes or cover letters. And then in college what I definitely took advantage of was the free tutoring. Because as a first-gen student I had nobody to help me with my homework. I was the first one to go to college in my family, I am the oldest. So definitely I would say tutoring. And all the free workshops they have like that first week of school, like syllabus night, attend those and like after that it will make you feel more comfortable and be like okay I am kind of getting the idea of what this college journey is.

What was an obstacle you overcame?

It’s been a long journey. I would say people judging the way I spoke because of my accent was always something, like even - I moved from Mexico when I was a junior in high school. So I started learning English and all that and you know it was difficult, and then two years after that I had to apply to college. It was like a lot within two years. And then people in college were like ‘Oh like it’s hard to understand you’ or they were kind of rude sometimes. So that’s been the hardest for me and then I feel like after I grew up later on, I was like that doesn’t matter. The way I speak makes me different and I think different is cool. You don’t have to be like the others. I think for me that has been the most difficult challenge, but at the end of the day, my challenge became something unique to me and that like now I’m proud of being different. 

How have you managed stress in college?

I’ve actually gone to therapy. And you know a lot of people don’t like to go or they think like ‘why, I don’t need it’. Definitely, I thought like that, like that ideology. But I feel like if you just like stress and need someone to vent to or just to talk about how stressful your day was, definitely therapy for me is you know talk to somebody and see what they can recommend, like some activities for you to like relax and there’s like even books on how to manage anxiety or like stress and college life. So I would say you know, just looking out for resources because it’s not easy, but if you try to find resources, it can definitely be better.

Since you work in admissions at WSU Tech, what is some advice you have for students about admissions?

High school students, dual credit! Take advantage of dual credit. Resources like USD 259 with WSU Tech, they have the JumpStart program, and even some high school’s around the area. So like any college credit you can get, or even like a short-time technical certificate. WSU Tech is really good with CNA, CMA, we have welding certificates, so I would say definitely look into those. Because you can even start as a junior in high school taking credits and you can get an associates once you finish high school. So we have a lot of cool opportunities for high school students and adult students as well because I work mostly for adult students. So definitely high school students, adult students look into those programs.