Alexis Green (G’23) was a senior at George Mason University when she received an interview to work at Georgetown in 2019.
She couldn’t believe it. It must have been a mistake or a spam email, she thought.
“I went to my academic advisor at the time, and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s real. You need to respond to this email,” Green said.
Green had worked part-time at George Mason while she was a student and wanted to build a career in higher education. She started as an admissions recruiter at the School of Continuing Studies, recruiting prospective students to continue their education at Georgetown — she also earned her master’s in higher education administration through SCS in 2023.
In 2022, Green transitioned to work with the Georgetown Scholars Program (GSP), which provides wraparound support for first-generation and low-income college students.
As a first-generation college graduate herself, Green was drawn to GSP’s mission to serve students who come from a similar background to her own.
“This opportunity working with GSP was aligned with who I am as a first-gen college grad, who I am as a woman of color,” Green said. “I thought, ‘Please, this job is for me.’ I love it.”
Today, Green serves as GSP’s assistant director for advising and mentorship programs. In her role, Green meets with students to help them navigate life at Georgetown. She also helps oversee GSP’s peer and alumni mentoring programs and helps organize other programming, such as hosting orientation sessions for new GSP students to familiarize them with GSP resources.
“There’s a lot of times where you need to ask for help, and you don’t know where to go or who to go to. I like to be that advisor who can point students in the right direction and make them feel like their questions aren’t dumb,” Green said. “We have a whole lot of life to live, so not knowing everything is okay. It’s okay to ask questions.”
Get to know Green and her passion for working with first-generation college students and traveling, which has taken her from Ireland to Aruba and Guatemala with plenty of other bucket list destinations in the years to come.
How I got my start in the higher education industry: I went to George Mason and worked at the information desk. That was where my love for higher education came into play. At the information desk, we would have parents, students and prospective students come up and be like, ‘Okay, can you give us the real deal of what college is like?’
Being first-gen, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know you had to pay for your college application. I didn’t know what the SAT was. So going through that and then being at the information desk, I was like, ‘Ask me all the questions. Let’s talk about the real things at college.’
I had an amazing academic advisor when I was at George Mason. If I can do anything in this life and support a student like he supported me, that’s something I want to give forward.
What it means for me to work with first-generation college students: Working in GSP, being able to be a student advisor to a lot of our first-gen students, letting them know they don’t need to know everything, letting them know there’s a community of individuals here who are going to fully support you no matter what — my biggest thing is making sure students feel supported, not just giving them resources and checking them off my list.
This part of my work brings me joy: Can I pick two? The first one is connecting with students, especially because in my role I connect with a lot of students who are on a leave of absence. I want to make sure students feel supported even though they’re not on campus, especially when it comes to mental and physical health and all those things that come with taking a leave.
Then number two is pairing students with their alumni mentors. I love it. It’s like a matchmaking service where for three days, I’m going from line to line thinking, ‘These two would pair really well.’ Hearing feedback from students and knowing that the time I take to make those connections makes it pay off.
An educational hobby I’ve picked up: I’ve been on my journey to understand what it means to be financially literate. I have financial books, which are sometimes not the most exciting, but [want to] understand what the heck is going on in investing in this stock and this 403B, 401K, all of that.
I was always interested in investing, but I didn’t know what that meant. It’s just something growing up that wasn’t discussed. I always tell myself I’m a lifelong learner, so if it’s not learning in the classroom, I’m going to be learning somewhere.
Itching my travel bug: International travel is something on my bucket list to continue doing. I do a lot of traveling in the States as well. Growing up, we didn’t really travel, so I’m like, ‘There’s more to this life than Virginia? Who would’ve thought?’ I’ve been to California, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, New York. I’ve got some trips planned: New Orleans, Denver. The list keeps going on and on, and I’m like, ‘Sure, let’s do it.’ 
Why I might like trip planning more than the actual trip: If there’s a trip, if we’re going on a girls’ trip, if we’re going on a couple’s trip, if we’re going on a solo trip, I’m planning it. I’m doing all the research. I’m making the itinerary. I’m designing it in Canva. I’m printing it out for everyone. Of course, when you get there it’s fun, but I’m like ‘But wait, did you see the Canva itinerary?’ That’s what I want people to be excited about so they can get excited about the trip.
My dream trip: Thailand or Egypt. I think both places are beautiful. They have a lot of history, especially Egypt — I’d love to be a tourist in Egypt. One of the main factors is the food, but then also the historical artifacts, the history behind all of it and also just the beauty of it. You don’t get to see places like Thailand or Egypt in the U.S., so just being able to see something else is nice.
Why I love Wisey’s: My first meal working at GSP, we got Wisey’s, and my boss at the time gave me the whole Georgetown experience. Their sandwiches are so good, and now I try to recreate them at home. When we have graduate assistant training, I like to have at least one meal from Wisey’s as kind of my secret tradition.
My favorite Wisey’s sandwich: Chicken Madness
