Pedro Enrique Puentes is a history Ph.D. student at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). His studies of interest are the American West, California, Chicanx/Latinx, and U.S-Mexican history. He has professional experience as a teaching assistant in the history department at California State University, Northridge and UCI, and worked as a curatorial intern at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles.

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As a first-generation Mexican-American and low-income student, Pedro has faced challenges that many students, from similar backgrounds, have encountered in higher education. Pedro’s story is unique as he was academically dismissed from the University of California, Merced in the Spring of 2012 and had to start all over again at a community college, Los Angeles Harbor College. One of his goals, while at UCI, is to mentor and guide first-generation college students as they navigate college, and hopes that this is a step to encourage students to pursue their dreams and goals in higher education.