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It all started with a routine self-exam.

In this episode, LT and Sam get specific in all the ways search results rarely do. We talk costs in plain numbers, coordination with surgeons and oncologists, and the difference it makes when a Black nurse names what darker skin may experience and pushes a prescription through before travel. Along the way, a small community forms in the clinic: therapists who notice the sneakers, remember your name, and walk you down the hall.

We also unlearn the media script that equates “real cancer” with chemo and visible decline. LT names cancer imposter syndrome, the pressure to fit a narrative, and the relief of replacing it with truth: early is still cancer. The final note is an anthem: keep writing, keep traveling, keep cheering the WNBA, keep choosing the life you built. It’s far from over.

If this conversation helps you or someone you love, share it with a friend, follow the show, and leave a rating or review—your support helps more listeners find honest, practical stories like this one.

https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month/

https://www.pinterest.com/firstgenation/breast-cancer-diagnosis/

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/123027172

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In What is a Graduate Student: Learning the Higher Ed Hidden Curriculum on the Fly, LT and Sam welcome special guest Dr. Tracy Buenavista—professor of Asian American Studies at Cal State Northridge and the very person who first named LT’s first-gen identity—to unpack what it really means to navigate grad school as a first-gen student. From late-night “mentoring on the run” to underfunded programs and hidden rules no one explains, LT and Tracy swap stories about how they stumbled into graduate school, survived its financial landmines, and built pathways to lift up the next generation through the UCLA McNair Program and beyond. They dig into the cornerstones of real first-gen grad student support, the importance of expanding what kinds of fields students dream about, and what keeps them fighting for access—especially in today’s climate of attacks on DREAMers and shrinking support programs. Plus, they time-travel back to the songs and albums that defined their own grad school days.

Perfect for current and aspiring graduate students, first-gen professionals, educators, and anyone curious about higher ed’s unspoken rules, this episode blends real talk with practical insights—and will leave you inspired to fight for access and equity.

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In Episode Four—aka The English Major Episode—LT and Sam welcome self-proclaimed “Honorary Smart Girl,” Phuc Tran, author of Sigh, Gone and Cranky, for a pop culture deep dive Gen X style. Together, LT and Phuc compare notes on how sneakers, Doc Martens, punk, hip hop, Prince, Star Wars, and more shaped their very different coming-of-age journeys as first-gen kids: Phuc as an immigrant Vietnamese boy in small-town Pennsylvania, LT as a Black girl navigating the Washington, D.C. area. They unpack the icons that shaped them, the music that moved them, and how writing memoirs rewired what it means to “be smart” and first-gen.