Through courage and community

Standing behind a podium to speak before an audience can be intimidating. The stakes get even higher if that podium is situated in a room at the White House. UGA junior JJ Lazo shook off the nerves and remembered that all he had to do was tell his story as a first-generation college student.

“I know that many children don’t get that same opportunity. But if we start inspiring students to start trying in high school from the start and providing them with the right resources they need, it would be one of the biggest accomplishments for our Hispanic community. These kids are the future of our nation,” he told an audience during a Peruvian Independence Day event in July 2024.

Lazo has made it his mission to banish doubt and illuminate the path to success for other first-generation students and anyone else wrestling with uncertainty.

From cradle to confidence

Lazo wasn’t always equipped to confidently share his past with a crowd, much less one in the nation’s capital. But one question set him on a path toward confidence and a mission to help others.

“Who wants to be a lawyer?” asked Xavier Brown, an assistant dean at UGA’s School of Law, who happened to encounter a crowd of high schoolers on a campus tour.

Lazo, a self-described introvert at the time, gathered the courage to raise his hand; Brown then handed Lazo his card, and Lazo realized his aspirations were in good hands.

Now a political science and international studies major, Lazo wants to expand access to education. His shining inspiration begins with his father, a Peruvian immigrant who was never able to attend college. Instead, Juan Carlos Lazo worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for Lazo and his brother, Juan Francisco, to go to college.

“My dad moved to the U.S. when he was 31 to give me and my brother the opportunity for a better life,” Lazo says. “I want to make my life worth it for him, not only for me.”

He also wants to make it worthwhile and pave the way for other students.

Breaking down barriers

That work begins at the University of Georgia, where Lazo serves as director of first-year programs for the Student Government Association. He’s also UGA’s Chapter president for TRIO, which helps low-income students find a path to college.

“I think I’ve learned my purpose—just giving myself as a resource to those who need it,” he says.

Speaking from his experience as a first-generation college student, Lazo says, “There are so many things that can overwhelm our minds and give us anxiety, but at the end of the day, it’ll work out. It may not seem that way at that moment, but I think no matter what, if you just give it your all, you can achieve anything.”

That story and passion is something Lazo knows is important to share. That’s why when Kilder Fuentes, the president of the Peruvian American National Council, invited him to speak at the White House event, he was thrilled.

“I want college to be possible, even though it is something that I thought was impossible,” says Lazo. “If you put in the work, if you truly believe it, if you can envision it, you can get it.”

Future defender

Lazo hopes the next time he chats with Brown, it will be about law school admissions as he continues on the path to becoming an immigration lawyer. And don’t be surprised if the name JJ Lazo one day appears on a future ballot.

“No matter where we are in our current world, if I know that I’m doing something that helps a community that needs it, that’s going to motivate me no matter what,” Lazo says. “Whether I run for office or not, just having the opportunity to help someone is going to drive me.”