When Dr. La'Tonya Rease Miles was in third grade, a homeroom teacher said: "You are smart, and you are going to college." A shy, nerdy, sports-loving, only child of a working-class, teenage single mom, she wondered next: "How does a smart Black girl get to college?"
A pioneer of first-generation studies, long-time practitioner of university initiatives for first-generation students at several U. S. colleges, and dynamic advocate of first-generation representation on social media, in mass media, and within popular culture, "Dr. LT," as she is affectionately called, did not actually know she was "first-gen" for much of her life.
In her memoir, she traces the (sound)tracks of her life as she journeys through myriad K-12 public schools (nine) and several college experiences (three) toward a PhD and beyond, battling self-doubt, racism, "imposter syndrome," and "survivor's guilt" to transform the higher education landscape for herself, her family, and community.