Noorhan Buttres

• What does being a First-Generation College Graduate mean to you?

Being a first-generation college student has had a positive and a negative impact on my life. To illustrate, being the first one to attend college made me sometimes feel like a there is a big amount of pressure on me. Even though my family would not bother me with questions about how my school was going, I knew that they had big hopes for me. And this would give me the feeling of frustration and worrying every second that I might not meet their expectations. Not to brag or anything, but I am a good student with outstanding grades and GPA. However, there were times where I would fail an assignment, ONLY AN ASSIGNMENT, and that would cause me to panic, thinking what if that assignment makes me fail the class? What if that class caused my GPA to go down and thus resulted in me not being accepted into law school and becoming a lawyer whom my family can be proud of? Those feelings caused me to stay up many nights and miss out on a lot of fun with my friends. Although I knew that I would ace my classes because I studied well and understood all lectures, just thinking that my whole family is relaying on me on reaching the dream they were unable to reach due to the hardships we have faced caused me to panic every time I made a little mistake. However, being a first-generation student also has its good side. The feeling of me bringing to our home a happiness of graduating and maintaining an important role in society, such as becoming a lawyer, provides me with confidence and to belief in myself. Being a first-generation college student is what makes me stand out from others.

• What is your proudest moment from your time at UCSD?

One of my proudest moments from my times in UCSD is getting hired at a law firm for a Paralegal’s role. Since I am pursuing a career in the legal field and aiming to go to law school, I was excited to get into the legal workplace and learn more about the environment. The reason why this event is the one I feel most proud of until now is because I never thought I would get to work at a law firm at such a young age. Because I come from a family that came to the U.S. as a refugee, I was told by many people to lose my hope in finding such position, and that my only chance of landing a job would be as a retailer, which is a position I fulfilled for three years before getting hired as a Paralegal. Not only did that moment make me proud, but also made my family proud and happy for me for accomplishing my goal and reaching my partial dream.

• Who are the family members, friends or loved ones who have been most influential throughout your college journey? Are there any words of gratitude you would like to share with them?

Both family and friends have helped me maintain my confidence in reaching my goal of graduating and applying to a graduate school. Them encouraging me to keep going and providing me with support whenever I felt like I was failing is an aspect that played a major role in my college journey. Of course I want them to realize how important they are to me to help me get to where I am today. I strongly believe that without friends or family, a life would just be a tasteless, non-fun one.

• What do you plan or hope to do after graduating?

After graduating from UCSD, I am planning on attending a law school. So far and after working at a law firm and assisting lawyers for couple years, I realized being a lawyer is my passion. Defending workers whom had been mistreated by their employers, fighting for the innocents’ rights, and bringing justice to whom voice is kept unheard is what keeps pushing me into continuing my journey as a law student.