First Gen

How do we not only invite these students in to unfamiliar spaces but teach them how to thrive?

When Josh Farris hit barriers to studying abroad, he didn't get the help he needed from an adviser. It made him feel poor and unloved.

"I do think being first-gen and being a native Spanish speaker has helped me build relationships with my students," on teacher says. "They have to be able to trust you, they have to be able to feel safe in your classroom, and then we can start talking about academics."

First-generation college students are more likely to take out undergraduate student loans than other students, and when they do, they tend to be for more money. I’m in a very similar boat, so you can imagine why I took advantage of the freeze. 

For all its faults in tackling colorism and Afro-Latinx representation in film, there was one minority experience it handled well: the story of first-generation college students.

I’ve been talking about this with other members of my class in what feels like hushed tones. We’ve all suddenly been hit with a sense of sadness over our lost commencement we tell each other, but it feels selfish to voice it.

Let's talk about feelings of guilt that plague so many first-generation graduates.

As a culture, we put a lot of stock into graduations as signifiers of success. If what follows are feelings of anything but joy, it becomes all too easy for the feeling of loss to become guilt.

Mentors can raise self-confidence and connect first-gen students to pathways they didn't even know existed.