1. Hello,
My name is Nidia Ruedas-Gracia, and I am a first-year doctoral student at Stanford
University. My research interests focus on first generation college students and both their positive
and negative experiences (academic, social, emotional, socio-cultural, etc.) as they move up the
academic ladder.
At Stanford, I am continuing the implementation of an online program I created as a
master’s student at New York University. In order to make this program a success, I need your help!
This program is in the form of an online website for first generation college students (students
whose parents DID NOT acquire a bachelor’s degree). This year, the program will be implemented
with first-generation college students at Arkansas Tech University, the third-largest university in
Arkansas, which currently has more than 50% first-generation college students. Graduate students
will each submit a blog every week documenting their graduate and undergraduate school
experiences. In turn, undergraduate students will be given access to the website.
The goal of this website is two-fold. I want to utilize the website to expose first-generation
undergraduate students to the world of college and life after college. I also want to provide a space
for first-generation graduate students (like you) to not only document their experiences and make
the research world aware of them, but also to motivate and essentially advise future graduate
students.
I sincerely hope you will consider participating. I am striving to make this as quick and easy
for the graduate students that will be a part of this project. All I ask of you as a participant is to:
 Take the initial survey (5 minutes)
 Post a blog/entry once a week sharing an experience or event that that you have
experienced or encountered as a graduate or undergraduate student 
o There is no minimum/maximum length and no required topic, but I can offer some
possible topics if you don’t know what to write that week. They can be positive,
negative, or mixed.
 Answer questions that undergraduate students may post on your blog entry (optional)
That’s it! There will be monthly $50 gift card raffles for those graduate students who are actively
participating. Your identity will not be disclosed to any one unless you give someone your
information directly. Again, there is no requirement as to length of blogs and what you write is
completely up to you!
There is not much research on the experiences of first-generation college students in
undergraduate programs and even less on their experiences in graduate programs. I would love to
enlighten the research world with this information. Additionally, as a first-generation college
student myself, I experienced, first-hand, the setbacks, struggles, and also joys of embarking on this
new journey. Once I completed my undergraduate program, my goal became to aid other students
like myself as they enter post-secondary education. I want them to be equipped with the tools to
succeed and move on to graduate school!
Again, I hope you consider participating in this project. I’m excited to get it started and hope
you can be a part of it with me!
-Nidia Ruedas-Gracia
Stanford University – Graduate School of Education, Development and Psychological Sciences
nrgracia@stanford.edu
626-482-8410