A beeline to success: The first in her family to pursue college, Alejandra Perez ’26 was drawn to Saint Mary’s as a place where she could “build a connection with my professors, talk outside the classroom, and ask as many questions as I needed,” she says. / Photo by Francis Tatem
Making Family History: Alejandra Perez ’26 is Building a Buzz in Business
Growing up on her family’s bee farm, Perez got a hands-on education in building an agricultural enterprise. Now the “first-gen” college student and creator of SMC’s Entrepreneurship Club is ready to start her career.
According to the most recent data, around one in three Saint Mary’s students today are trailblazers, the first in their family to pursue a college degree. For many first-generation students—“first-gens,” as they often refer to themselves—the journey to and through college brings unique struggles—and surprises. We regularly ask first-gen Gaels to share, in their own words, their history, hopes, and advice for the next generation.
Today, we’re highlighting Alejandra Perez ’26: a Marketing and Business Administration: Entrepreneurship double major, High Potential mentor, founder of SMC’s Entrepreneurship Club, and the Marketing Intern at the Career Center. The first in her family to attend college, Perez has been an integral part of Alex’s Family Bee Farm, the family business, since childhood. And in Summer 2025, she was among the top-performing interns at Northwestern Mutual, the nationwide financial services firm.
Part of the hive
I was born and raised in San Leandro, California, where my parents moved after immigrating from Mexico. Ever since childhood, my four younger siblings and I have helped my parents run their beekeeping business, Alex’s Family Bee Farm. We currently have about 2,000 hives with millions of bees, which we use to provide pollination services throughout California and collect a variety of honeys.
By the age of eight, I was translating for my parents, helping them obtain different licenses for our business. And from age 10 onward, I helped them sell honey at festivals. It was a great childhood, honestly. The more my dad taught me about bees, the more I fell in love with the environment and began to understand how important it is to take care of it.
Our household was always very joyful and hardworking. We’re very unified—not only my nuclear family, but also my dad’s nine siblings and their families. They’re all beekeepers, too. I really appreciate the core values my parents taught us: to always be generous towards others, have goals, work hard, and have faith in God.
Road to Saint Mary’s
I am the first person in my family tree to attend college, and it was definitely a complicated journey. My dad’s side of the family has a strong entrepreneurial mindset, and many of them would tell me, “You don’t need school, just start your own business.” While I valued that perspective, my parents always encouraged me to pursue college. They believed that gaining knowledge, learning new strategies, and seeing different perspectives would only make me stronger, no matter what path I chose.
The funny thing is, my mom has a picture of me as a four-year-old at a wedding in front of the Saint Mary’s Chapel. Of course, I never knew I’d end up studying business here. But in my senior year of high school, I had a change of heart. My whole life, I had wanted to be a doctor, but sitting in my anatomy class, I realized: “I don’t actually like this!” That’s when I decided to pursue business. Already, I had so much experience with the family business. I figured I could apply everything I learned in college to the bee farm.
As I started looking at business programs, what really drew me to Saint Mary’s was the class sizes. Here, I could build a connection with my professors, talk outside the classroom, and ask as many questions as I needed. It just seemed super accommodating to me. I also loved the peacefulness here on campus, the community, how safe it is, and how supportive everyone in the School of Economics and Business Administration is.
Startup energy
When I started here, there were several business-related clubs, but none specifically for entrepreneurship. My advisor, Associate Professor of Business Analytics Noha Elfiky, always encouraged me to start one, so in 2023, I did.
Jeem Sirivar, a visiting professor of Entrepreneurship, is the club’s faculty advisor. He has been so helpful in guiding me. We’ve found that students are really interested in starting their own businesses but don’t know where to begin. So one thing we focus on in the Entrepreneurship Club is bringing in professionals to talk to students. For Women’s History Month, for instance, we invited four female entrepreneurs to share their journeys. We also try to take advantage of our Bay Area location. Last October, we were able to get free tickets to the Startup World Cup finals in San Francisco, where new companies from around the world compete for a $1 million investment. That was such a fun, eye-opening experience.
Our club also runs the Gideon Market each May, where students from all over campus come and sell whatever they make or offer a service. It’s like a farmers’ market in Dante Quad. I actually sell our honey there. It’s fun to participate on both sides, organizing the event and being a part of it.
Expanding her comfort zone
I’m pretty confident in my abilities as a businesswoman. But when Lili Yan, associate professor of Business Ethics, nominated me to be part of the 2025 Lasallian Societal Impact Case Competition, I immediately thought, “Oh! Me? Really?” Each year, the competition brings together business students from Lasallian schools around the world to argue the ethics of real corporate cases. Professor Yan and other faculty usually choose five Saint Mary’s students. I never thought one would be me.
I was definitely nervous. For one thing, the competition was only a few weeks away, and I already had a trip to Europe set for the week before. But Professor Yan told me, “I can work with you. I’ll help you and support you.” Last year, we were asked to offer recommendations about a federal fraud case against Boeing, which paid $2.5 billion after misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. The topic, the timeline—it all felt really daunting.
But Caroline Burns, professor of Leadership, Ethics, and Law, was with me the whole way, even when I started to doubt myself. I’ve never had anyone stay up with me until one in the morning to do a school assignment, yet that’s what Professor Burns did with me. “We’re gonna keep practicing until you’re not nervous,” she told me.
In the end, our team won fourth, which felt pretty great. For me, the bigger takeaway was realizing I’m capable of more than I thought.
“If you want a quality education, this is the right place. Our class sizes are small, but the opportunities are mighty. In every department, you will always have support. Your professors care and won’t let you fail.”
Real-world experience
For the last two years, I’ve been the Marketing Intern for the Career Center. I’m responsible for the Center’s digital marketing, managing its social media accounts and promoting its events on the website. It was at our 2025 Spring Career Fair that I first learned about a summer financial advising internship at Northwestern Mutual, the nationwide financial planning firm. I applied and was accepted, and that June, I went to work at their office in Walnut Creek.
I really enjoyed helping clients think through big financial decisions, such as having a family, buying a house, or creating a will. My target market was farmers and mainly Spanish speakers, which was a good fit. I’ve noticed that in the Latino community, we struggle sometimes with receiving help, especially with money. Because of my background and experience in agriculture, I found that a shared understanding was helpful to my clients.
I was actually nominated as one of Northwestern Mutual’s top interns and invited to their annual Elite College Financial Representative Academy at their headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was able to make many new connections and talk to different people about their experiences. It was great to try out that kind of financial services job, and I’m definitely considering it for the future.
Looking forward—and advice for future and current Gaels
As I look toward graduation in May, I’m interested in gaining experience in operations and learning how other businesses operate, specifically in the food industry. But I’m still very passionate about bees. I would definitely like to collaborate with my family’s business in the future.
Ultimately, I’m glad that I decided to go for it and get a college degree. If you’re reading this and thinking about Saint Mary’s, I would say that if you want a quality education, this is the right place. Our class sizes are small, but the opportunities are mighty. In every department, you will always have support. Your professors care and won’t let you fail.
My advice to every college student, really, is to get involved as much as you can. Never, never go the easy way. Yes, it’ll be complicated. But those complicated paths are often the most rewarding.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Anne Williston, MFA ’27 is a graduate editorial fellow with the Office of Marketing and Communications at Saint Mary’s. Write her.
