After working for a decade with youth and their families as a site supervisor for school-based services at the local non-profit , Cortes, 33, joined the Kent School staff in October 2023 as the Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSW) Program Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator.

First-Gen student success
A first-generation student, Cortes grew up in Oldham County in a family that valued education.

“My mom was one of only two of the six kids in her family who completed high school, and my dad was an immigrant from Mexico who completed the ninth grade,” said Cortes. “My parents were both laborers, and they were breaking their backs and coming home late at night, and they just didn’t want that same burden for their kids; they didn’t want that life for us.”

Each year, over a third of UofL’s first-year students are first-generation. To support this growing population, UofL joined the , which helps universities share data, model innovations and scale impact to advance student outcomes. Since 2019, these efforts have contributed to a 3% increase in first-to-second-year retention for first-gen students.

Finding a supportive environment at UofL
Cortes attended other colleges briefly before transferring to Louisville, where he found a niche he didn’t expect for a “guy who grew up in Oldham County on a horse farm. The only time I came to Louisville as a kid was to go to Kentucky Kingdom or the rodeo,” he said. “So, for me to go to this city and feel as comfortable as I did is a testament to everything, all the work they did to help me, not only at Kent school but at UofL, in general.”

Cortes said the University of Louisville felt personal and was responsive to his needs, including helping him balance academics with working night shifts at UPS and fulfilling his practicum hours.

“My advisors, the staff and the professors that I worked with looked out for me as an individual,” he said. “They supported me through my journey as a nontraditional student, and were able to meet me where I was…that made me feel like more than a number or just the next student coming through. They get to know me as a whole person.”

The path to success wasn’t always a smooth one for Cortes, and there were times when things were tough, and he felt too exhausted to go on. He relied on his family for moral and emotional support, and on his UofL family, as well. 

“I remember thinking there’s no way I can squeeze in the time to write this 10-page paper and then study for this exam and read those four chapters,” he said. “There was no downtime, and I felt like I was on autopilot for the better part of those years.”

But the memories of those times ultimately made the achievement sweeter.

“It makes me feel incredibly accomplished in a way that I really can’t describe. I knew that I wanted it, but I also knew I was really going to have to work for it,” he said.

New role creates new opportunities to serve
After receiving his BSW degree, Cortes worked as a youth social worker in the Louisville community. Now, in his new career as an admissions and recruitment coordinator at UofL, he’s come full-circle and is preparing the next generation of social workers to make a difference.

“I’m now in this position, advocating for my students and providing resources, counseling, sometimes crisis management,” he said. “They all have unique circumstances and backgrounds, and even though every situation is different, I feel I was once in their shoes. I really want to pay that forward for more UofL students,” said Cortes.

Cortes says he also hopes to help grow the Kent School, encouraging others to pursue a social work degree, noting the importance of addressing mental health.

“As professionals, we need to grow and advocate for mental health and talk about it as plainly as you would a physical injury,” said Cortes. “Nobody has any problem going to the doctor with a sprained wrist, but you might be hesitant to say you’re really feeling uneasy and need to go talk to somebody about it.”

Bobby Cortes treasures the messages from former families and students about things he has taught them and the impact it’s had on their lives. “For example, they’ve told me something we did together framed their thinking in a different way,” said Cortes. “I really, really love those kinds of a-ha moments.”

He’s looking forward to more of those a-ha moments in his new role with aspiring social workers.  

March is National Social Work month. to find out more about Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work and Family Science.

“I am grateful that I did attend UofL and earned my undergraduate degree,” Brown said “I had the opportunity to go somewhere else to earn my master’s degree, but I ended up staying here and working for the intramural department to earn my MBA and that was a great pleasure.”

A support system and determination to achieve a daunting – but possible – goal was key in Brown, a first-generation college student, furthering his career in higher education. Being a college student can be a difficult adjustment for many people, but there is often an added struggle for those who are the first in their family to complete their degrees.

“I think what really pushed me was my mom being a force, ensuring I was doing what I needed to do to get myself into college,” Brown said. “My mom and my grandparents really pushed me and emphasized that education was something that I really needed to align myself with because you always hear that one saying of  ‘if there’s one thing they can never take away from you, it’s your education and the knowledge that you gain.’”

Brown had to find a way to meet his financial needs so that he could pursue his educational dreams. As an undergraduate, he received an athletic scholarship and had the opportunity to be one of the football managers during former Cardinal quarterback Lamar Jackson’s time at the university.

“It was an absolutely incredible experience. That 2016 season, when he won his Heisman trophy, was actually my first season. That atmosphere in that year was absolutely insane, especially for being a manager for the first time,” Brown said. “It was just incredible to see how the team was, how Lamar was, up close. 2016 was an incredible year for football and for being a manager.”

Brown held five jobs throughout his time at the university, including two jobs that focused in sales, two jobs in university athletics and a job opportunity as an assistant athletic director for his high school. This work experience was an intricate part of helping Brown achieve his educational goals, but was also important to him because he was able to give back to his high school, to whom he also credits as a critical part of his educational achievements: Central High School.

Brown will accept a position at Amazon upon graduation. Along with his family and friends as a support system, he also found strength in a higher power.

“I can’t take all the credit. I’ve learned to walk in the plan that God has for me and just to trust in him. I think that’s the person who gets all my credit on me completing this [degree] and me handling what’s possible and allowing him to do what’s impossible because it has been a huge impact in my life.”

Brown recalls his time at UofL as an enjoyable experience and a necessary education. He formed connections that helped guide him to graduation and a career.

His advice for others pursuing their degree at the university?

“I would say to push themselves. Even when it looks like it’s getting hard, it gets better,” Brown said. “I’m grateful for the people that I’ve met and that I’ve had in my corner. I’m grateful for what the university has done for me, personally, and it has been a great experience for me.”

In February, the political science major and first-generation college student was one of 22 students in the country invited to the inaugural national gathering of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance that supports boys and young men of color.

“I was able to meet and speak to President Barack Obama. I shook his hand, looked him in the eye, and told him my name and where I came from,” Brown said. 

A Louisville Youth Voices Against Violence Fellow at the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center, Brown works with researchers, community partners, and community organizations to help reduce violence in West Louisville. He helps design and implement the organization’s social norming campaign.

“I first heard about the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance when my coworker sent me the application and suggested I apply for MBK Rising,” Brown recalled. “I decided to apply because the only requirements were ‘Are you a young man of color?’ or ‘Are you doing exceptional work on behalf of young men of color?,’ and all I had to do was submit a 60-second video highlighting work I do to ensure young men of color thrive.”

The west Louisville native traveled to Oakland, California, where he participated in MBK Rising, a two-day workshop aimed at finding solutions to obstacles and closing opportunity gaps that young men and boys of color face.

As part of his trip, along with engaging with Obama, Brown met with and listened to prominent figures that included NBA star Steph Curry, Grammy-winning singer John Legend, four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection Richard Sherman, and award-winning actor Michael B. Jordan.

“What stood out most to me at the event was the number of young men of color from across the country that attended the event,” Brown, a Martin Luther King Jr. and Porter Scholar, said. “Once I got there, I was able to meet plenty of young men of color that were doing exceptional work in their respective communities whether it revolved around mentorship, violence prevention, speaking, writing (or) music.

“There were so many talented, passionate individuals that I couldn’t help but be inspired.”

Brown said he became involved in the community because of first-hand experience of inequity within the city. He wanted to make a difference and believes that the event strengthened his desire to do just that.

“Being invited to MBK Rising meant that my involvement and dedication to my community is important and necessary,” Brown said. “Having the opportunity to be recognized on a national level meant that I had an opportunity to widen my scope and have an impact on more people’s lives.”

Toward the latter part of the trip, Brown was one of hundreds able to attend and participate in a Town Hall meeting with Obama and Curry.

Though the dialogue and advice resonated with the crowd, it wasn’t Brown’s biggest takeaway from the trip. Rather, it was the continued connections with other attendees. 

“Moving forward, with the young men I’ve met at the end, we have already created an everlasting bond and we continue to stay in touch with each other and raise one another up,” Brown said. “I not only learned valuable lessons on community activism, but most importantly, I learned the importance of mentorship, brotherhood and service. I learned that in order to climb, I must lift as well.

“I will continue to uplift those in my community and am looking forward to more opportunities to grow and connect with individuals wanting to make a difference.”

She has also finished three co-op rotations, including two with the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center. Now, she’s closing in on a degree in bioengineering, which she calls a “perfect fit” for her.

“Bioengineering is such a great field because it’s so broad and open. It opens you up to doing either the basic science side and research, it offers the more technical side, if you went into pharmaceuticals or something like that. It’s also directly still correlated with patients and helping people,” Lucas said. 

Lucas is on track to graduate in May. She then plans to pursue her master’s degree, also in bioengineering. 

Check out more of her story below: