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Don't call it a comeback. Sam and LT look back on a year of school visits, book chats, and pop-up events that turned a memoir into a community project, where first-gen stories, fandoms, and everyday art met in classrooms, clinics, and even a 24 Hour Fitness.

We also get tactical about what worked, i.e., adding visuals—childhood photos, book inspirations, family snapshots—pulled people in. Shifting the live reading to the Len Bias chapter created a bridge for sports fans and non-fans alike, blending grief, research, and the campus library into a single thread. Along the way, teen boys connected with Smart Girl through sports and comics, proving that identity and joy can share the same seat. We kept hearing the same worries about majors and careers, especially from first-gen and working-class students, and we broke down how humanities paths can lead to writing, leadership, and meaningful work.

Support came from surprising corners: a Body Pump class that built a book table out of gym gear, oncologists who opened appointments by asking about the tour, and a barbershop wall that turned our book cover into neighborhood iconography. We push back on higher ed taboos—talking openly about money, branding, and writing books people actually read—because visibility matters.

We’re turning the page toward season two with a wider guest list, fresh topics, and the same commitment to saying names right, meeting people where they are, and keeping the conversation brave and warm.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Tell us what film, show, or fandom you want us to explore next. Your ideas shape what comes next.

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/

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What if campus events felt less like ceremonies and more like sanctuary? We sit down with Doctora Alexia Fernanda Pineda Soto to rethink how universities design gatherings for first-generation students—from the invitation to the furniture to the final song. Our conversation moves past turnout metrics and prestige speakers to something deeper: events as living archives that teach belonging, honor family, and affirm first-gen wisdom as academic power.

We trace the origin story of LMU’s First To Go program and the student-led practices that shaped it: cafés where stories lead, human libraries that replace lectures, and an annotated campus map that reframes familiar buildings through first-gen eyes. Lexi shares why “community must be primed for community,” offering practical ways to slow the pace, lower the guard, and cultivate vulnerability with care. Together, we unpack how to swap “fix-the-student” programming for design that centers agency—down to the flyer fonts, room textures, and the soundtrack that cues the heart as well as the mind.

Expect concrete takeaways for academic and student affairs teams: how to onboard student staff as culture keepers, design spaces that feel like home, and measure success by connection rather than headcount. We also talk event formats for book talks and fireside chats, with vibe-setting picks from BrassTracks to Billy Joel to Bad Bunny. If you build gatherings where students are seen as sanctuary, the learning deepens, the room softens, and the archive of belonging grows.

Subscribe, share this episode with a colleague who plans campus events, and leave a review with one change you’ll make to create more third spaces on your campus.

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/

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In this episode, LT and Sam are joined by two students from the fall Smart Girl roadshow: Liz Hardy (UCSF) and Maliah Siyoum (SMC). Together, they unpack what happens when Smart Girl moves from the page into real college and grad school spaces.

Liz and Maliah share what the book unlocked for them, including recognition, discomfort, joy, ambition, and that unmistakable moment when a class shifts from “discussion” to real talk. They also reveal how the memoir resonates far beyond first-gen students, opening up conversations about why we go to college, what keeps us there, and how stories shape both individual and institutional change.

Go here for the Smart Girl experience:

https://www.smartgirlbook.com/