This summer, K to the Golden Gate took a group of first- and second-year students nearly 2,300 miles west, where a few days in San Francisco helped them imagine what their own futures might look like. Organized by the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) at Kalamazoo College and designed primarily for first-generation college students, the program combined company visits, job shadows, alumni coffee chats and cultural experiences in one of the nation’s most innovative cities at no cost to students thanks to alumni support. 

CCPD Assistant Director Alejandro Alaniz says planning for the program begins nearly a year in advance as he coordinates with alumni, identifies host organizations and carefully matches students with professionals based on their interests. Alumni funding covers airfare, lodging, program expenses and meal stipends, removing financial barriers that might otherwise prevent students from participating.  

“I think my favorite part is students learning that they have a huge alumni network available to them,” Alaniz said. “Sometimes they feel like they don’t know who to reach out to or what is out there in the world for them. Getting a different perspective of what the day-to-day looks like for alumni really opens their eyes, helps them have meaningful conversations and, most importantly, starts building their network.” 

San Francisco offered an ideal destination because of its diverse industries and strong alumni presence. Students visited Google, Adobe, Gilead and other biotechnology companies while also meeting alumni working in technology, finance, healthcare and environmental science. They toured workplaces, learned about career paths, and heard firsthand how K graduates built successful careers. 

For Son Le Dinh Truong ’28, an international student from Vietnam majoring in computer science and mathematics, San Francisco represented a chance to see the technology industry up close. One of the trip’s highlights was the opportunity to job shadow with Younsuk Koh ’15, an alumnus and fellow international student who now works as a software engineer at Google. The two had previously connected through LinkedIn, but meeting in person transformed the relationship. 

“I got a chance to understand more about his job, about the company and what’s behind this big and rapidly changing industry,” Truong said.  

As a first-generation college student studying far from home, Truong said the experience provided much more than career advice. 

“There were some points during the past two years that I felt lost because there were many things that I needed to navigate,” he said. “This trip didn’t just help me learn how to find a job. It helped me learn how to grow myself as a person and as an international student.” 

He also came away with a different understanding of what employers value. 

“I was always thinking about how to get a job and impress employers,” Truong said. “But the advice I received was about defining your value and growing as a person. People are looking at how collaborative you are and whether you’re a good fit. That human connection is very important.” 

Jay Hernandez ’28, a business major with a minor in computer science from San Antonio, Texas, had participated in a previous CCPD career trek to New York City. When he learned about the San Francisco trek, applying was an easy decision. As a first-generation student, Hernandez said opportunities like these never seemed possible while he was growing up. 

“When I went to college and saw this opportunity, I knew I had to take advantage of it,” he said. “I got to visit Adobe and that was really cool. It helped me see that this could be my future.” 

The experience also reshaped his thinking about his career. 

“I know I want to go into finance after graduation, but this trip helped me realize that maybe financial advising isn’t the only path I could follow,” Hernandez said. “Talking with alumni opened my eyes to different opportunities and made me want to keep my options open.”