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First-Generation
Indiana University Indianapolis
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Jose Espada

What was your motivation for applying to and attending college?"Having run away from home at the age of 13 years old due to step-father abuse, I found a place to live (a halfway house for juvenile delinquents) and supported myself by working at the Old Gas House in Fort Wayne. In my last year of high school, I was approached by Alvin Harris, a guidance counselor at North Side High School about recommending me to the Groups Program at IU-Bloomington. Although my grades in high school were horrible, Alvin saw promise. I was able to prove myself by receiving near a 4.00 GPA that first summer at IU and continued doing well with mentoring from the likes of Michael Gordon and others finishing with a 3.5 GPA from IU School of Music in Music Education." —Director of Student Financial Services, School of Medicine