Orange County Network: First-Gen Bruin Career Coffee Chat: Get Advice. Pay it Forward.
Sun 12/6 • 9AM PST
Café Cultura • Santa Ana California
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You filled out the FAFSA yourself. You translated the financial aid letters at the kitchen table. You figured out office hours, finals week, and four years of Westwood with no one at home who’d done it before.
Then you got the job, and a whole new set of unwritten rules showed up.
Nobody told you the first offer was negotiable. Nobody explained that the real decisions sometimes happen at happy hour, not in the meeting. Your family is proud of you, even if they’re still not quite sure what you do all day. And you’re still the one they call when there’s a lease to read or a form to fill out.
If your parents or guardians didn’t complete a four-year degree in the U.S., you’re a first-gen Bruin. That doesn’t expire at graduation.
Calling all first-generation UCLA alumni in Orange County for a morning of coffee, candid advice, and community with Bruins at every stage of their
careers.
Early in your career? Get straight talk from first-gen Bruins who’ve been in your shoes: negotiating offers, asking for promotions, building a network from scratch, quieting imposter syndrome, and balancing career goals with family expectations.
Further along? Be the person you needed back then. Share what you wish someone had told you, connect with fellow seasoned first-gen alumni, and help build an OC network that keeps showing up for each other.
You belonged at UCLA. You belong in every room you walk into now. No one handed you the playbook, so come help write it.
Date: Sunday, December 6, 2026
Time: 9:00–11:30 AM (drop in anytime)
Location: Café Cultura
324 W. 4th St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
Parking: Nearby parking structures and street parking available.
Cost: \[Free / coffee on your own
### [Orange County Network](https://alumni.ucla.edu/organizer/orange-county-network/)
[View Organizer Website](https://alumni.ucla.edu/network/orange-county-network/)
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