I'm not a first generation college student, and I'm not the first student in my family to come to UIndy. I'm the fifth student out of six, actually. UIndy has always been in my life and it was the only university I ever saw myself attending, with some help from my family.

My Grandma Ginny and her sister, Great Aunt Chris, were the first students to attend Indiana Central College, graduating in 1972 and 1968, respectively. Aunt Chris took night classes and got an Elementary Education degree while Grandma took day classes occasionally while raising my mother and uncle. ICC is also the place where Grandma met Grandpa, who was an English teacher at the time. Her's in fact. They were married a few years later.

in 1982 it was time for my own mother to choose a school, and she picked where my grandpa still worked, now called Indiana Central University. Mom earned a four-year degree in Earth Space Science and on her graduation day in 1986, the university officially announced that ICU changed its name to the University of Indianapolis, our school today.

Jump ahead almost 30 years and here I am at one of the three colleges I applied to, almost finished working on my English degree and earning my Bachelor's on May 7, 2016.

If I'm the fifth, who's the sixth? My younger brother, Spencer, just started his freshman year as a Microbiology major at the only school he applied to.

UIndy runs deep in my family and each of us is proud to be a greyhound. Traditions are alive and continue every day. Hopefully, years down the road, number seven and beyond will make their way to UIndy.