Building Community Among First Generation College Students

Kyle made finding ways to build community and voice among first generation college students his political engagement project. Inspired by current Twitch political commentator Hasan Piker, Kyle aimed to create better public awareness and organizing through storytelling. Using his own experiences as a starting point and teaching opportunity, Kyle worked closely with members of the Duke College Advising Core to find ways of making the process of applying to college for first generation applicants less mystifying and less daunting. The YouTube he made for the Democracy Lab class was instrumental in that outreach and can be seen here. In his senior year Kyle also researched the educational inequities that first generation college students have experienced, while honing his analytical skills. He describes his ambitions for that work in this YouTube video. Part of a larger cohort of first-generation college students in the PEP class of 2021, Kyle has accepted a position as a consultant with McKinsey in their government relations department. Kyle is also explicit about his intention of returning to Nevada to run for elected office.