Angelica Hernandez serves as a Graduate Intern at the office of Academic Support & Retention for the First Gen Hawks program at the University of Iowa. She is also a grad student in the MA program Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA). Her internship responsibilities include meeting with peer mentors, course curriculum feedback, keep in contact with seminar instructors, and sending out consistent communication about the program to employers.  

Before becoming a part of the Academic Support & Retention team, Angelica graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish. During her time as an undergrad student, she worked for the TRIO Upward Bound program to serve high school students as tutor and Rising Success Mentor for their summer program.  

In the future, Angelica sees herself being a part of a DEI program or an office in a four-year institution that serves students with underrepresented identities such as POC and First-Generation.