Campoverdi’s story is one of success won through ambition, hard work, and talent, which enabled her rise 'from welfare to the White House,' as she puts it in a new memoir, First Gen. But the book’s most poignant lessons are drawn from the emotional and physical scars she accumulated along the way, and that attend any amount of social climbing ... Rather than a story about her liberation from the need to belong, First Gen feels more like a repeating loop; the latest turn in a career defined by self-reinvention. Campoverdi is positioning herself as a guide for other First and Onlys, to help them along their own path to college and beyond. To make her experience relatable to theirs, she resorts to pop psychology ... Campoverdi’s story of striving and its emotional costs will help other First and Onlys know they aren’t alone. It may give them confidence that they can summit mountains as she has, even if they will be scarred along the way. But it’s also a reminder that a degree from a top-ranked private university uplifts individuals, not communities. To help first-gen students reach their diverse goals requires deep engagement with the often messy relationship between individual and community success, in addition to the cost of the climb.

This powerful and down-to-earth memoir is a vital glimpse into a set of experiences common to many Americans, and it's a celebration of the strength found in owning every part of a multifaceted identity

Campoverdi’s dedication and affection for young women in difficult circumstances is evident throughout this midlife memoir as she provides a rich harvest of encouragement and a solid list of resources.

In this psychologically astute work, the author calls out her difficult childhood experiences in order to demonstrate how to overcome stigma and trauma.