Hi, it's Jen and Sylvia. We are here to help you launch and grow your career faster.

What I'm thinking about...

Hi Reader,

At Cura, we believe in care for the whole self.

And there’s no better place to practice that than college, a season built for curiosity about who you are, not just what you’re studying.📚

My first year of college wasn’t the traditional experience. I’m first-gen, my parents are Latino immigrants, and when it came time to apply, they couldn’t help me navigate the system. Their support was: “You better go to college.” So, like many of us, I figured it out myself.

I applied to my dream schools, all of which are far away from Northern Virginia. Schools in North Carolina, Montana, and California. When the acceptance letters started to come in, I was pumped! My parents were not. They said, “What?! Move away from the house? You’re only 17, no chance. Go to George Mason.”

After a lot of pushing, I realized the only way to go was to navigate this myself and earn it. So, straight A’s the first year, and a school further away, but still in-state: James Madison University. Go Duke Dogs! All of this to live two hours from home. Done. 😀

What I didn’t realize: getting to school was just the beginning. Here’s the guide I wish someone had handed me.

1. Do all of the things.🤹🏼‍♀️ College gives you so much for free. Clubs, speakers, volunteer trips. Kayaking Club, a business fraternity, Slam Poetry—all organized for you, in one place, for one time in your life. Do it all your first year.
2. Meet all the people.🫶🏼Talk to organizers. Ask professors for advice, what clubs they’d join, what associations they’re part of. Ask classmates what they do on weekends. We were all told to get straight A’s, but no one’s asked my GPA since I left school. Every job, business, and close friend I have traces back to one person introducing me to another. It won’t feel like a clean narrative in the moment, but trust me, it all unfolds. Talk to others even when it's not part of your GPA—especially because it's not.
3. Go back to steps 1 and 2.🔁 Follow up, follow up, and follow up: emails, calls, texts, LinkedIn invites. A list of names isn’t a relationship. Invest in people as you learn from them. Bring a professor a cool article. Make cookies for your crew. Write thank-you notes.
4. Learn the hidden bureaucracy.😎 Every school has an unofficial rulebook that nobody hands you: how to petition for a grade, drop a class late, or appeal a financial aid decision. Find people who know how it works, and ask before you need it.
5. Say yes broadly—then learn when to say no.🌱 Early on, say yes to almost everything; that’s how you find what you’re curious about. Eventually, protecting your time becomes a skill in itself. Learning to say no on purpose isn’t a betrayal of the “do it all” phase. It’s the next step in knowing yourself.

Connection, curiosity, and collaboration will take you further than GPAs, bulk resume drops, and another generic cover letter.

Be IN college, not just AT college.✨

In partnership, Jen

Jen Elena Romano, CEO & Founder | Cura, Inc.

🎙 Staying in the Pocket: Navigating Mental Health in Today's Job Market and Workplace

Friday, July 31, 2026

1:00 pm PT / 4:00 pm ET

Staying in the pocket. 😌💪🏼

That's what Lilian Alfaro Cavlan, LMFT, Clinical Director of Mindful Practices, Inc., calls the mindset of staying calm and clear-headed when the pressure is on. Turns out that same skill works just as well off the field.

Join us Friday, July 31 at 1 PM PT for a Cura Chat with Lilian on Staying in the Pocket: Navigating Mental Health in Today's Job Market and Workplace.

As a bicultural and bilingual, licensed clinician, Lilian offers therapy for families and mindfulness workshops for athletes and leaders. Her approach is strength-based, helping people find hope and grow personally and professionally.

Lilian is also the author of Prevail: A Road Map to Navigate the School System for a Hopeful Future 📚, a practical guide for students and parents navigating the school system from early years to the workforce. Drawing on her own story as a first-generation Latina student, she wrote it to instill hope in families facing an uncertain path forward.

Lilian works with athletes on nervous system regulation and staying in the pocket, and she's bringing that same framework to the job market and workplace stress.

In this conversation, we'll dive into:

• Naming the uncertainty.😶‍🌫️ How long does this kind of stress actually last, and does it ever shift?
• Recognizing your stress response.💡 Fight, flight, or freeze, and catching it before it takes over
• Staying in the pocket.🧠 Regulating your breath, emotions, and focus the way athletes are trained to
• Mindfulness at work.😌 Practical tools you can use at your desk, and how to prevail in the workforce during uncertain times

Whether you're feeling the weight of job uncertainty, workplace stress, or just want real tools to stay grounded and live with more ease, this conversation is for you.

📅 July 31 at 1 PM PT. Register here to save your spot!

The Wellness Corner

Cura comes from Cura Personalis, or care for the whole person.

Make Money Make Sense

Between the ads and the group chats, it was hard to watch the World Cup this summer without placing a bet — or at least thinking about it. But sportsbooks aren't in the business of giving money away. They're in the business of taking it, and they're very good at their job: bookmakers were projected to pocket over 10% of every dollar wagered on this tournament alone. That's not bad luck or bad picks. That's a system built to profit off you.

If betting is starting to feel less like fun and more like something you can't put down, that's worth paying attention to. The National Problem Gambling Helpline is free, confidential, and available 24/7 at 1-800-522-4700.

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Mental Health

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and we want to talk about something a lot of us have heard growing up. "Your grandparents had it worse." "Therapy is for crazy people." Sound familiar? Messages like these get passed down in a lot of BIPOC communities, often with love, but they can make it really hard to ask for help when you need it. This article from Mental Health America breaks down six common myths about mental health in communities of color — plus affirmations to help remind you that taking care of your mind isn't weakness. It's strength.

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​As always, please text CURA to 741741 for ongoing FREE mental health bilingual crisis volunteers. Our friends at Crisis Text Line offer 24/7, bilingual text support. 💛

Partners We Love ​First Gen Fund is a nonprofit founded by author and former White House aide Alejandra Campoverdi that provides direct hardship grants to first-gen students—no strings attached, no red tape. Their Fellowship also connects awardees with an advisory board of first-gen founders, financial educators, and executives from across the country. This is the kind of support that meets students exactly when they need it most. Learn more