Yash Sanjay Kute
First-Generation Student Spotlight
What led you to college, and to Northeastern?
I grew up in a small town in India. After my bachelor’s in Pharmacy, I started thinking about regulatory affairs, the work that decides whether a medicine is safe and ready to reach patients. I knew the best place to learn it was outside India. Nobody in my family had gone abroad for studies before, so there was no one to ask what it would really look like. I just knew I wanted to try.
What did your family understand, and not understand, about what you were signing up for?
My family understood it was a big opportunity, and they supported me. What was harder to explain was the details: what regulatory affairs actually is, what a co-op is, why I’d work during my degree, how a degree in the U.S. turns into a career. I didn’t have all the answers either, so a lot of the time I just told them, “Trust me, I’ll figure it out.”
Was there a moment you felt you didn’t belong? What got you through?
Early on, a lot of moments. I was in a classroom full of people who already seemed to know how things worked: how to network, how to email a professor, how to talk to recruiters. What got me through was reminding myself that I’d already done something hard just by getting here. I also learned to ask questions even when I thought they sounded basic. Most of the time, someone else in the room was wondering the same thing.
The turning point came when I started making connections: networking, attending events, meeting people outside my field. Simple coffee chats brought so many opportunities my way. They helped me land my first on-campus job and a co-op at Johnson & Johnson.
What skill have you built out of necessity?
Figuring things out on my own. I learned to research my way through problems, ask for help early, and not wait for someone to tell me the next step. That helped a lot at Johnson & Johnson, where I learned fast, took initiative, and was recognized with the ICA Contribution Award for North America.
How has your relationship with your family changed?
Distance made us talk differently. We don’t talk every day like before, but when we do, the conversations feel deeper. My parents used to ask whether I was eating well. Now they ask what I’m working on and what regulatory affairs is, and I get to explain my world to them. I think they’ve gone from worrying about me to being proud of me.
Growth starts the moment you choose the unfamiliar over the comfortable. I left a small town with big dreams, and I’m still learning that the risk was never the leap. It was staying put.
Yash Sanjay Kute
What would you tell a first-gen student just starting out?
It’s okay to not have all the answers. The students who look like they have it figured out are often guessing too. Ask questions early, even the ones that feel basic. Find one person, a professor, an advisor, a mentor, who will answer them. And when you doubt your decision, as I did, remember that being scared means it matters to you. It doesn’t mean you chose wrong.
Write your own first chapter.
Being the first in your family to earn a degree takes courage, and you don’t have to do it alone. Explore flexible CPS programs built around your life, your work, and your goals.
