How I went from community college to a Blackstone internship in just 5 years

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• Getting a job at an elite Wall Street firm can be hard without an Ivy League degree.
• Blackstone's LaunchPad program seeks to open more doors for first-generation college students.
• Elian Hilario discusses his path to a Blackstone internship and what it taught him.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Elian Hilario, 23, a LaunchPad intern in the summer of 2024. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I moved...