Leaving home to attend the University of Delaware wasn’t easy for Saray Lopez, a first-generation college student and human relations administration major in the College of Education and Human Development.

Born and raised in Frankford, Delaware, a rural town with more farms than traffic lights, Lopez is the third of four children with loving parents who each work two jobs to put the kids through school. Lopez adores her big family. She has fond childhood memories of playing in southern Delaware’s state parks and beaches, and she cherishes the community she grew up in.

Lopez was thrilled upon hearing she had been accepted to UD. She wanted to go to college and make her family proud. But moving to campus also meant giving up that support system at home, having to explain a problem over the phone rather than over the dinner table. It’s just not the same.

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