Finding Her Place: First-Gen College Student Begins Her Journey at UC Davis

At the beginning of August, Julissa Rocha packed up her life in Bakersfield and drove four and a half hours north to begin her journey into higher education. Now a freshman history major at UC Davis, Rocha is embracing her new life as a first-generation college student, balancing summer courses, making new friends, and exploring a new home.

“It was rough the very first day since I’m all alone here,” she admitted. “It was a really big change, but after that, things started getting better.”

Rocha dove headfirst into college life, already making friends — starting with a fellow history major and branching out through connections. That social side of college is something Rocha deeply values, thanks in part to her time in Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), the youth advocacy coalition she participated in during her junior and senior years at Golden Valley High School. 

“I really loved the volunteer opportunities and just the whole aspect of SWAT,” Rocha explained. “I love the interaction with people. Some of my most fond volunteering experiences are the people that I have met.”

Rocha said she didn’t know anything about SWAT or tobacco awareness campaigns when she signed up on a whim, drawn by promises of volunteer and networking opportunities. By her senior year, Rocha was leading the coalition, advocating against tobacco use at youth events, and helping spread awareness to the youth of Kern County.

“I became the Chair, and that was probably one of the best experiences of my senior year, because I got to become much more involved in the process,” she said. “I kept finding out more about SWAT, and I realized how important advocacy is, and I thought it was important to spread awareness about it.” 

Julissa Rocha (left) poses for a photo with her fellow SWAT member at Relay for Life.

From running booths at community fairs to helping create public service announcements, Rocha’s passion quickly grew. Beyond SWAT, Rocha lent her skills to the United Way’s VITA program, preparing free tax returns for low-income families, and volunteered with CAPK food banks. A painted rock sits in her dorm, given to her by a young girl when she was volunteering at a Relay for Life event.

“I really love looking at that rock. I think that sums up my volunteering experiences that I love. That’s why I do this. I love helping people,” Rocha shared. 

Her long-term goal is to become a high school history teacher, inspired by her own love of the subject. 

“I really took an interest in history. I’ve always wanted to be in education,” Rocha said. “I think it’s interesting how everything has its history. It’s not limited to textbooks.”

As the daughter of parents who immigrated from Mexico and didn’t have the chance to pursue higher education, Rocha takes pride in being among the first in her family to attend college. 

“They’ve always taught us that we should have an education and never take that for granted,” Rocha noted. 

Graduating in the top 10 of her class, Rocha was accepted to all 12 universities she applied to — including UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where her older brother is currently attending. For Rocha, Davis represented a chance to step further outside her comfort zone. She remembers waking up from a nap and checking her email notifications to find her acceptance proudly displayed in the subject line of her email.  

“I just read, ‘congrats, you’re an Aggie!’ And I was so happy, I was no longer groggy, and I went to tell my family,” she recalled. “I was really happy because Davis was the school I was looking for.” 

Rocha says her whole family took education very seriously, maintaining excellent grades and working hard to be accepted into top schools. She says now both she and her older brother serve as inspiration to their younger brother, who says he wants even more for himself.

“My younger brother is super proud of both of us. It’s very inspiring to him, because he says now he’s going to be even better, and now he’s going to aspire to more,” Rocha added.

Coming home for a quick visit between her summer and fall classes, Rocha is ready to take that spirit of volunteerism, advocacy, and connection with her into her next adventure. 

“I really love volunteering, and I’m going to try to seek out more here at Davis,” she said.