LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - LaKendra Mackey, a first-generation student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is determined to show her six children the importance of a college education.Mackey moved to Little Rock after serving 10 years in the U.S.
Navy and earned an associate degree at University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College.She was previously homeless and experiencing other struggles when she was accepted to UA Little Rock, where she discovered its TRIO programs and staff, which serve to help first-generation students like herself succeed.TRIO became a critical part of helping Mackey get herself back on her own two feet.“TRIO has helped in a lot of ways to stay afloat in my courses,” Mackey, a senior social work major, said..