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Alex Torres was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. when he was nine. He had to overcome multiple challenges growing up. He came from from a numerous underprivileged family of nine children and once he moved to Texas, he had to learn the language and adjust to the culture. Upon graduating from high school, he had a great deal of difficulty navigating all the barriers and challenges associated with being a first generation college student from an immigrant family. Although his parents were supportive of his educational aspirations, they had no first hand knowledge nor the resources to assist him. As a result, it took him "more than six years to do what should have been done in four." "Every time I thought I had it figured it, there always seemed to be another obstacle that kept deflating my efforts. I thought about dropping out almost every year and actually quit twice before finally completing my first undergrad degree." Mr. Torres has worked in public education with the most troubled schools and underserved populations for over fifteen years. This experience has added to his first hand understanding of the roots of cyclical poverty and the first-generation college experience. "Working with hundreds of students for years, trying to get them to graduate high school and then watching them fail to complete any educational aspirations beyond that was incredibly frustrating. They would simply repeat the cycle." "It's not that the resources aren't there, I know they are, I used them; but they don't have the knowledge to access them.