First-Generation Alumna Now Leads Her Own Classroom

In one recent afternoon class, she spent time talking with students about an upcoming football game, answering questions about the student section gate, tickets, and what to bring, before easing into the day's material. She shares memories from her own years attending games as a student. Her students respond to it.

The approach matters for students who might otherwise feel out of place in a college classroom. First-generation students often lack someone who has already walked the path they're on, and Hooks fills that gap by mixing personal connection with academic instruction. For TSI math students specifically, who are often working to meet college readiness requirements, having an instructor who understands the hurdles firsthand can make a required course feel less like a barrier and more like a bridge.

For neighbors with kids headed to Texas Tech, or for first-generation students anywhere in Lubbock eyeing a college path, it is a reminder that the people teaching required courses sometimes started in the same seat their students are sitting in now.