As a first-generation student, Analicia Leiva used to call her mom frequently for encouragement. The Rosenberg, Texas native said she felt anxious when she first arrived in College Station as a freshman anthropology major at Texas A&M University.
“She would always say, ‘You can do it,’” Leiva recalled. Several years later, she uses those same four words to encourage the first-year engineering students she helps as an advisor in the College of Engineering.
A helping hand
Leiva was a Regents’ Scholarship recipient and participated in the Foundations of Continued Undergraduate Success (FOCUS) program. FOCUS is a learning community that provides mentorship opportunities for first-generation students. To Leiva, it was a life-changing experience. After completing her freshman year and gaining newfound confidence in herself, Leiva started mentoring other students in the FOCUS program.
“The first year I did it, I didn’t even know you got paid,” she said. “I just wanted to pay it back.”
Paying it back has become her philosophy for everything she now does as an advisor.
Becoming an advisor
While working on her master’s degree in student development and higher education, Leiva was hired as an academic advisor for the College of Architecture at Texas A&M in 2014. She completed her graduate degree the following year. As an advisor, Leiva assisted construction science students and helped teach a course for first-generation Regents Scholars.
To be an advisor for first-generation students, you have to be patient. You have to overexplain things. It’s those little details that help them.
It’s quite different from the career she originally envisioned for herself as a paleontologist studying dinosaurs, but it’s a career that she became passionate about through her own experiences as a student.
“To be an advisor for first-generation students, you have to be patient,” she said. “You have to overexplain things. It’s those little details that help them.”
As the first person in her family to go to college, she remembers how those little details helped her.
“I want them to understand, and I always take the time to make sure they do,” she said.
Going the extra mile
Leiva joined the College of Engineering as an academic advisor in June 2017. She advises general engineering students and
“My favorite part of my job is having an impact on students in some way,” she said. “I like working with freshmen because the perfect time to influence someone’s development is between the ages of 16 and 19.”
Jose Pena ‘22, a chemical engineering student, said Leiva helped him realize his own limitations in a way that ultimately benefited him.
“On many occasions, students believe that they have had enough experience in their academic trajectories to be able to decide what is beneficial to them,” Pena said. “However, by the same token, these types of students also become involved with a wrong sense of confidence and wellbeing that they forget to ask questions. Yes, I am also talking about myself.”
Pena said he’s been very involved as a freshman engineering student, and Leiva helped him take things into consideration that he had not thought about before.
Rewarded for excellence
Leiva was recently recognized with the President’s Meritorious Service Award for commendable service to the university. In an email from President Michael K. Young, the recipients of this prestigious award demonstrated their commitment to the Aggie core values to excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.
In February, Leiva was also rewarded for the way that she goes above and beyond. She received the Innovative Advising Award from the Texas Academic Advising Network (TEXAAN). The award was based on her initiative to include all first-year engineering students in her class, whether they attend Texas A&M in College Station, or in Galveston, McAllen or a remote academy.
“Something I try to make the students realize is that saying, ‘I can’t,’ is just an excuse,” she said. “You just have to try.”
Leiva also recently became a Fish Camp namesake. She didn’t attend Fish Camp as an incoming student, but she now sees the benefit of other students attending.
“They try to make you realize that it’s OK to be yourself and to open up,” she said, admitting that this is something she could have benefited from as a freshman.
Leiva is passionate about her career in advising and the ability she has to make an impact on students.
“I think that advising is all about appreciating different types of students and understanding their goals and visions,” she said. “Having that direct impact on students is about helping them develop as individuals, not just in college, but also in the future somehow.”