From Arizona to the Ivy League: First-Gen Trailblazers Break Barriers with STEP
A record-breaking class of Arizona students is proving what’s possible when talent meets opportunity. At the 2025 Senior Celebration hosted by STEP: Student Expedition Program, 95 low-income, first-generation high school seniors celebrated acceptances to elite universities like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, NYU, and Barnard, as well as top in-state institutions like Arizona State University (Barrett Honors) and University of Arizona Honors College.
These students didn’t just get in—they beat the odds.
“STEP taught us to dream bigger… They handed us tools and helped us learn how to use them,” said Camila Insunza, who will attend her dream college, Washington University in St. Louis, on a full-ride scholarship after overcoming the financial and emotional barriers that once made college feel “like trying to get to the moon… without a spaceship.”
Many of these students credit STEP’s intensive college prep workshops and wilderness expeditions for helping them build the confidence and resilience needed to thrive on highly selective campuses. During a three-week trip in the Alaskan backcountry, students cooked their own meals, kayaked among glaciers, and discovered the leadership qualities within themselves—often for the first time.
“That experience taught me I’m capable of many things,” said Angela Castaneda Rios, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. “This program helped me take initiative for my life.”
ABOUT STEP
STEP currently works with over 300 underserved Arizona high school students each year. 99% of our students are the first generation in their family to seek a college degree. 90% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 91% identify with an ethnic minority group. Tracy Baynes founded STEP in 2002 bringing with her 25 years of teaching and expedition leadership experience. With a firm belief that learning in an unfamiliar and challenging environment is a transformative experience, she began what would become an evolving mission to help high school students broaden their horizons and consider college options beyond only the ones they had heard about from people in their spheres of influence. STEP offers an exceptional, personalized, focused and proven approach that empowers our students to prepare for selective college admissions. We introduce students to educational institutions most likely to provide the resources (personal, academic, and financial) to make them successful. STEP’s unprecedented success is due to the focused and comprehensive guidance we provide our students through the entire college preparation and application process. This focused guidance is what sets STEP apart from other college-access nonprofits.
