Justin Martin

Growing up an only child, Justin Martin was always the pride and joy of his loving parents. His parents instilled a “Do better than we did” mindset, and he wanted to make them proud.

It was always a goal of his to attend college, so that one day he might be able to give back and care for them.

“I can remember being very young, passing the university and saying I wanted to go here one day,” Justin said.

To make his dreams a reality, Justin joined the Upward Bound program at UAFS, which equips high school students with the proper tools to succeed in college.

As he entered his freshman year, Justin found his largest obstacle was not having an older mentor to guide him – someone to answer his various questions like: “Where do I find my homework assignments?”

“If you’re a first generation student, you can’t be afraid to ask questions,” he said. “If you have a question there are bound to be others with the same one, and people to answer them are all over this campus!”

After graduating in 2018, Justin now works as an academic advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences at UAFS and a first generation mentor, helping other first generation students on campus.

This is Justin Martin, and he was #First2Go.