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Yessica Canas got her first pair of glasses when she was 3 years old, and has since wondered what it would be like to help others see the world around them more clearly.

Next fall, she’ll find out when she heads to Midwestern University in Arizona to pursue a lifelong dream and a doctorate in optometry. Before she goes, however, she’ll collect the bachelor’s degree in integrative physiology and a certificate in public health that she earned at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“Sometimes it feels like a dream and not real life,” said Canas, a Brighton, Colorado, native who on May 7 will become the first person in her family to graduate from college.

Canas knew she wanted to go to college, but wasn’t sure where. An uncle encouraged her to apply to CU-Boulder and she was accepted, but she said she wasn’t prepared for the personal and academic challenges she encountered. At first, she doubted her ability to handle college-level academic work and her twice-daily bus commutes between Brighton and Boulder wore on her mind, body and spirit.

“Once the first week of school was done with, I was about ready to quit,” the fifth-year senior said of her freshman year.

Canas, 24, attributes her academic success at CU-Boulder to the guidance and network she found at TRiO Student Support Services, a federal program that works to increase college retention and graduate rates among first-generation students from low-income communities and students with disabilities.

Through TRiO, Canas met other first-generation college students who related to the challenges she faced in college. She and a few friends joined Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority Inc., which provided another nurturing support system. Even so, like other first-generation college students, she struggled with self doubt.

She had worked in an optometrist’s office for several years, and she knew coming into college that she wanted to become an optometrist and help others with their eyesight. But her studies, a part-time job, long commutes and filling out applications to out-of-state optometry schools began to take a toll on her.

“This dream started to fade and doubts started to creep inside my head,” she said. “I started to question myself, thinking, ‘I’m not going to make it. I’m not good enough.’”

To conquer her fears once and for all, she sought the help of academic advisers who could put her on the right path. An adviser specializing in dental medicine gave her some good advice, and she opted to pursue a fifth year of study at CU-Boulder to ensure she was prepared to submit her application to optometry school.

Canas applied to three optometry schools, all of them out of state, and was among 100 applicants out of 600 who were accepted to study at Midwestern University.

“What I have learned on my journey at CU-Boulder is to never allow anyone to tell you you cannot do something. I came very close to giving up on my dream because of negative thoughts,” she said. “Through all of my hard work and passion, I discovered I was equally as good as everyone around me.”

To explain her journey, Canas channeled the inspirational message of renowned California math teacher Jaime Escalante: “Todo lo que se require son ganas.”

Sometimes, all you need is the desire to want something.