Hannah Majboul knew she wanted to be a pharmacist since she was a little girl in the Philippines, when she first saw her aunt helping patients at the local pharmacy.
Magpul eventually came to the United States from the Philippines at the age of 10 and brought with her her childhood dream of becoming a pharmacist. But college and job applications are already known to require insider knowledge and fluency in institutional speak, and are even more difficult for someone who is the first in their family to pursue higher education in the United States.
This is where the Peninsula College Fund came into the picture. The nonprofit not only helped Magpul pay for college, but also provided her with essential mentorship and networking opportunities that helped her land an internship and a place in pharmacy school.
The Peninsula College Fund received a $10,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Weekly Fund campaign last year, which the organization used to enhance its services and provide support to other Bay Area high school students who are the first in their families to attend college.
The nonprofit provides more than 80 selected students each year with $12,000 scholarships spread over four years of college study, specifically for low-income, first-generation students in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. It also provides its students with a mentor who helps them navigate their college experience and gives them access to comprehensive career services resources.
Magpul, now a human biology major at UC Merced, said the Peninsula College Fund helped her achieve academic and professional success, and also served as a source of emotional support and guidance through the ups and downs of college.
“I feel like without them, or without all of their resources and guidance when I was applying, I don’t think I would be where I am now,” she said.
When she was struggling in her classes at Merced during her freshman year, it was her teacher who helped her validate her fears while continuing to encourage her to take breaks and be kind to herself — which ultimately helped Magpul pass all of her classes.
For Gexsy Nava, a UC Irvine alumnus who also received a scholarship from a nonprofit organization, his relationship with his mentor helped him successfully pursue a career in engineering and also encouraged him to become a mentor for the Peninsula College Fund himself.
Nava, who is from East Palo Alto, said it was reassuring to have someone in his corner who stayed in close contact with him even while he was away at school. His teacher reached out to him, inviting him to dinner when he was home for the holidays to hear how school was going and make sure he was on track with his classes and requests.
Nava said his teacher helped provide him with basic support, which is what his parents wanted but couldn’t.
“It wasn’t that they weren’t supportive. It’s just that they didn’t know how to (support me),” Nava said.
Nava said they continued to develop a close relationship over time, saying the two grew up together in some way — and he even attended his mentor’s wedding.
Nava said the prospect of going to college as a first-generation college student was intimidating and intimidating, knowing that he didn’t have the same support system as most other students.
“I went to campus with just a suitcase, said goodbye to my mom and that was it,” he said. “I should have known that.”
Denise Villamil, director of career services at the Peninsula College Fund and a first-generation college student, said she sees that many of the students she works with struggle primarily with a lack of self-confidence.
“When you don’t know what you don’t know, it often holds you back,” she said.
Villamil, who led the development of the organization’s career services arm when she first joined the nonprofit, said much of the work she does now reflects the resources she wishes she had when she started in college. She said the Career Services Department now provides guidance on how to prepare for job interviews, write cover letters and provide networking opportunities, among other things.
The students who work with the Peninsula College Fund are motivated and talented but don’t have the inside knowledge needed to get their foot in the door when it comes to applying for jobs or further education, Villamil said.
More information about the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, including how to contribute and a list of people who have already donated, can be found at PaloAltoOnline.com/holiday_fund.