Brandon Lagunas has changed the status quo. Having earned his Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Northern Colorado, he advises 1st Generation students on how to navigate the college experience and how to best maximize the opportunity they have. He continues to be an advocate for people of color to pursue an education and be an example for their communities.

Learn more about his story.

Tell us about yourself, where are you from, what do you do for work?

I was born and raised in Greeley, Colorado and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with my Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. In my free time I love hooping and playing ball with all kinds of people, it is something I try to do at least twice a week. I am a big sneakerhead as well and collect shoes all the time. 

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As for work, this is my second year as an academic advisor for the Monfort College of business here at the University of Northern Colorado.

What kind of students do you advise at the University of Northern Colorado?

I advise students within our business program, with a lot of them being first-generation students.

My role is to create an advising plan to have them graduate within a 4 year span while also being flexible with that, moving it between 4 1/2 to 5 years if necessary. Really what works best with the student's needs.

Did you have an academic advisor in your time in school to help with an academic plan?

Yeah, absolutely. It actually started in high school. Honestly I wasn't really expecting to even attend college. I don't even think it crossed my mind until the end of my junior year. It wasn't until I met my mentors,Albert Maldonado and David Reyes, shout out to them! They're still here in District 6 ( in Greeley). They're the ones that got me to do a couple of dual enrollment classes so I could get college credit, and from there on they introduced me to another student support service program called Center for Human enrichment (CHE).  That program was for first-gen students, and my advisor Flora was the one that helped get me right back on track in order to graduate with my Bachelor's degree.

When you were in high school, what challenges did you face that might have stopped you from pursuing a post secondary education?

I didn't really see too many positive male of color influences, people that look like me within the higher education field. When I thought of applying for colleges, I just thought of it as something only white kids would do.

Even with some of the friends I would hang out with I felt like I had to hide the fact that I wanted to be educated and wanted to go to school. I think that's just what comes with imposter syndrome, like why am I applying to school? Am I even gonna be good at college?

What memories do you have of being a first generation college student? 

What challenged you and what surprised you?

The day I went into my first criminal justice class, I remember seeing all the kids prepared and already had read chapter one of our book. I was like damn I didn't even know we needed books.

I went and talked to my advisor and she's like, "Oh, yeah, you definitely need books and they cost extra money on top of what you're paying." My reaction was where am I gonna find the money for that? So they helped me find a scholarship and then also showed me the resources at the library where I could check out some of my course books.

How did you find your path to your chosen field and your job?

Growing up, we had very limited income. My family had multiple family members always incarcerated. Due to that I think I went into college with the mindset of wanting to be a police officer to, you know, “change the system”. As I grew further along within the program, I realized I really don't like the system at all. I then learned about the school to prison pipeline and realized that's where I can make the most impact and made the switch into education.

During school, I was able to land an internship with Gear Up, a program that I was a part of growing up. It's a student support service offered through District 6 that allowed me to intern in three middle schools and three high schools. Through this internship, they helped me land a job as a restorative justice interventionist at an alternative school here in Greeley.

After doing that for about a year, I wanted to make a greater impact. I was working as a program manager through Partners Mentoring Youth where I matched kids that were going through challenges within their life in school with mentors for the school year. That’s what kind of made me realize that I wanted to have an even bigger impact on my community. Naturally that's why I landed back here at UNC as an Academic Advisor to first generation kids at the Monfort School of Business.

What do you wish first generation students knew when they went to college?

Don't be afraid to ask for help. I know that's tough for first-generation students because we are very hard shell and very resilient people. We are so used to figuring stuff out on our own and sometimes it is hard to ask for help. I know that's always the cliche thing to say, but it is so important to ask for help.

If I didn't reach out to my advisors, my professors, or some of my teachers that helped me get a job, I don't know where I would be at. I probably would have dropped out and gotten a job that I really don't love. Now I love my job and I was able to find that passion from asking questions.

Tell us what advice you can give to others when overcoming obstacles

Like I said before, I grew up in a very limited income, one parent household where my mom was working multiple jobs just to get me to college and provide for me. She would make sure I felt supported throughout and get me rides to basketball practice and everything else I was involved in. All of this just made me want to work harder to provide a better life for both my mom and I. I didn't want to see us struggle again, and that was always my personal motivation.

I have a quote I live by, it is "No struggle, no success."

It pretty much means, what is success without going through a little bit of struggle to get there.

What advice would you give your younger self?

10 years ago I would definitely say to take your classes more seriously because in the end it's going to cost you some money.

Also, be careful what loans you pull out. I had a financial aid advisor in my junior year who was Latino too and was always looking out for me. Now we're friends here at the university. I recently asked him if he remembered that time I tried taking out a loan and he told me "Mijo how are you taking out this loan? You don't need that, you're just going to accrue interest." So be careful on the student loans. Take them out only if you need to and don't spend what you don't have to.

But overall the biggest piece of advice for my younger self would be that you're going to be proud of the man you eventually become. 

Who is your biggest influence and why?

Definitely my mother. I watched her struggle putting food on our table every night and always being there for us. Seeing her also walk across that stage( for graduation) you know that really inspired me. It made me be like, I'm okay, my mom's doing this I could do this too. I want to make her proud just like she's making me proud. Even to this day she is such a selfless person,

I want to be even just a fraction of who she is.

If someone were to tell the legend of Brandon Lagunas, what do you hope they would say?

That he's a badass, like in every sense of that term. You know, he kicked ass within work, kicked ass within life. A person that was just an overall badass.