Anthony Perez, Oregon State ’27
First in My Family and Finding Myself
When I first realized that I had the opportunity to be the first member of my family to attend college, I was ecstatic. I remember being so excited and thinking about all the possibilities ahead of me: the schools I could attend and how much money I would be able to make. I began setting the highest expectations for myself: attending Harvard, becoming a doctor, and creating a billion-dollar company. I was just a sophomore in high school who didn’t understand what it meant to be a first-generation student. I viewed college as a fresh start, and part of me wanted to fast-forward through high school to begin this journey. I wanted to be there right away because of the freedom that came with it, the friends I would make, and how much I would learn.
After months of college applications, visiting different campuses, having a dream school hundreds of miles away, and wrapping up senior year, I ended up accepting my offer to Oregon State University. I specifically remember the excitement throughout the summer of 2023 of moving down to Corvallis, right before my freshman year of school. Although I was excited, I knew I had to succeed to make my family proud. Coming into college, my main journey was deciding who I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to make friends, be involved, and uphold the opportunity of being first-generation with a scholarship. I knew I had to have great grades because of how fortunate I was to be there.
Every day, I would find myself balancing my expectations while still trying to figure out who I wanted to become. While my family was supportive of me attending college, I felt more pressure knowing that none of my family members had attended a four-year program before. I had to think about the kind of people I wanted to surround myself with, specifically, to find genuine friendships and people who shared my values. I wanted people that I would be proud to introduce to my parents. I have always believed in the saying, “show me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.” I knew this was one of the things I needed to find, specifically, brotherhood.
With that in mind, during my first official week of college, I decided to participate in fraternity recruitment. This involved attending informational sessions through the school and specific events at the chapters I was interested in. Since I grew up in Oregon, I had heard positive things about a few fraternities at Oregon State before even setting foot on campus. Phi Delta Theta was one of the chapters I had heard great things about, and after meeting the members, I began to understand why. After several days of attending events and meeting members from different chapters, I went with my gut and decided to sign a bid with Phi Delta Theta, Oregon Beta. Little did I know how drastically signing a piece of paper would change my life.
Throughout my Phikeia experience and after becoming an initiated member, I felt myself growing closer to the brotherhood I had been looking for since getting to Oregon State. One moment that has always stuck with me was sitting around a fire with some of my closest friends in the chapter. We began talking about our lives and some of the struggles we had experienced back home. During that conversation, I realized that everyone was going through something in their lives, whether it was visible to others or not. It made me realize how good it felt to surround myself with people who genuinely cared about me and who I could rely on. As a first-generation student trying to figure it out and find my own identity, having those relationships made a huge difference in my own experience.
As I became more involved in the brotherhood, I began taking on leadership positions within my chapter like public relations chairman, alumni relations chairman, and the most impactful for me, recruitment chairman. Since joining, I knew I wanted to become recruitment chairman because of the positive impact the guys who recruited me had made on my own life. I wanted to be able to give incoming students that same experience and help them find their place in college. Once I got elected, I spent months preparing for recruitment and was able to recruit fifty-four people into my chapter. One of the most rewarding parts of this experience was having new members thank me for bringing them into the fraternity and telling me how much it had already impacted their college experience. It reminded me of how I felt when I first joined and made me realize how much of an impact I could have on someone else’s life.
Serving in this position for three years, along with my other chapter leadership roles, helped me grow in my confidence and communication skills. It also helped me discover my passion for building relationships, helping others succeed, and working with people. Being involved in my chapter’s executive board eventually pushed me to pursue leadership opportunities beyond Phi Delta Theta. I decided to run for Oregon State’s Interfraternity Council and was elected Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing. Through all these experiences, I began to see a clearer vision for my future and realized that I wanted to pursue a career where I could work with people, build relationships, and make a positive impact on others.
Looking back, I sometimes think about what my college experience would have been like if I hadn’t joined Phi Delta Theta. I know I still would have worked hard to succeed, but I can’t imagine having the same friendships, confidence, or opportunities that I have today. As a first-generation student, there were times when the pressure of doing well in school and figuring everything out on my own felt overwhelming. Having a brotherhood that supported me and encouraged me to stay involved made my college experience so much more meaningful. I think having that sense of belonging is especially important for first-generation students because it gives us people to turn to when we’re navigating something completely new. For me, Phi Delta Theta became more than just a fraternity. It became a support system that helped me feel at home at Oregon State.
My involvement in Phi Delta Theta also opened doors that I never knew existed. One of the biggest opportunities was interning at my Fraternity’s General Headquarters in Oxford, Ohio, during the summer before my senior year. The internship meant moving across the country without knowing anyone, which was a little intimidating at first but also something I was really excited about. Throughout the summer, I gained hands-on experience in marketing, recruitment, and communications, and I learned how a fraternity operates at the national level. I was able to meet so many great people, build professional relationships, and gain experience in a field that I had become passionate about through my chapter leadership roles. Looking back, it’s amazing to think that joining a fraternity during my first week of college eventually led me to an opportunity like this.
Following my summer internship, I was offered another opportunity to continue working remotely for Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters during my senior year, focusing on digital communications and content creation. This meant so much to me because I not only get to continue doing something I genuinely enjoy but also have a job that helps me pay for my living expenses while I am a full-time student. Being able to gain professional experience in a field that I’m passionate about while continuing my education is something I’m incredibly grateful for. As a first-generation student, I don’t take for granted having an opportunity that supports me both financially and professionally. My fraternity has become so much more than just a college organization. It has helped me discover my career interests and given me opportunities that I never imagined having when I first arrived at Oregon State.
When I first learned that I had the opportunity to become a first-generation college student, I thought success meant attending a prestigious university, earning a degree, and eventually making a lot of money. While those goals were exciting to me at the time, my experience at Oregon State has taught me that success means so much more. Through Phi Delta Theta, I’ve been able to discover my passion for leadership, connecting with people, and helping others in whatever way I can. Being a first-generation student has taught me how to navigate an experience full of uncertainty, while my Fraternity has given me the relationships, guidance, and opportunities to grow as a student, a professional, and, above all, a better man. I’m proud of how far I’ve come since my freshman year, and I owe so much of that growth to the people and experiences I’ve had through Phi Delta Theta. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire other first-generation students to put themselves out there, take advantage of the opportunities around them, and realize that they don’t have to have everything figured out right away.
