“Beacon is an amazing community,” explains Adriana, “And I feel truly fortunate to get to work alongside these students. Growing up, I learned a lot about barriers to education, particularly higher education, from my folks. My mom, who is an immigrant from Mexico, was forced to drop out of school to help care for her family when she was just eleven-years-old. She and my dad, a former ESL teacher for the Job Corps, made education an important value for our family, but they were also well-aware that the path to higher education is riddled with systemic obstacles; the more privilege a person has, the fewer barriers they experience. My primary responsibility as a librarian here is to teach information literacy, and for me, that means ensuring that every student has equitable access to all of the resources, services, and knowledge they need to accomplish their goals. Our first-generation students motivate me to be a better librarian. They’re self-sufficient, resourceful, connected to the community, and deeply supportive of each other. I’ve learned so much from Beacon Scholars.”