“It used to be something that people felt ashamed about or tried to hide. First-generation students didn’t want other students or faculty to see them as less than or inadequate in some way,” said Laurel G. Kaiser, director, FirstGen Center and herself a first-generation college student.

Kaiser and the FirstGen Center are reframing what it means to be a first-generation college student.

Blazing A Trail And Looking For Support

More often than not first-generation students are raised in families in which attending college is not expected and rarely discussed. But when first-generation students persist to graduation, they not only improve their own lives, they are improving the lives of future generations.

“To be the first in [their] family takes a lot of courage because they are stepping outside the norm,” Kaiser said. “They are trailblazers of their families.” By completing a degree first-generation students increase the odds that future generations will succeed in college. “The likelihood of their own children completing college skyrockets to 86 percent,” Kaiser said.

The FirstGen Center provides social, emotional and academic support to first-generation students by empowering them to persevere to graduation. Kaiser and the Center’s volunteers employ an array of strategies, like resilience coaching, mentoring and by offering students leadership opportunities.

The Center is built on the premise that many first-generation college students don’t enjoy the benefits of healthy support systems in their own families. Sadly, many have no one to turn to when they confront challenges, or no one to celebrate with when they succeed. Kaiser’s FirstGen Center fills that void. “It’s awesome to be in the Center when one of our students comes by with a joyful smile to say ‘I got an A on my exam,’” Kaiser said.

Financial And Academic Support

Nationally, only 11 percent of first-generation students will finish college and obtain a four-year degree, according to “The First-Generation Student Experience: Implications for Campus Practice and Strategies for Improving Persistence and Success,” a 2010 book written by Jeff Davis. Kaiser is working to improve that statistic.

Arguably the biggest obstacle for first-generation students is financial difficulties. The FirstGen Center offers a number of scholarships to first-generation students. Many receive scholarships through College Now, which, like the FirstGen Center, offers mentoring as a part of its scholarships. Others receive scholarships from the Cleveland Scholarship Foundation. In addition, the Center enjoys a close relationship with Jimmy Malone, a local radio host. “Malone comes to our Center every week and has his own scholarship called the Malone Scholarship. We have five students who have received that scholarship so far, and more are selected each year,” Kaiser said.  

This year the Center received $20,000 worth of scholarships through the Ingall’s Grant. This grant provides services to eligible students through a special campus program called the Academic Support Center. The Center provides tutoring and case management for students who have a documented learning disability.

Besides their financial woes, some first-generation students come to higher education devoid of the academic skills their peers possess, especially in math, writing and reading. Lacking these skills not only wreaks havoc in the classroom but can also be psychologically debilitating.

Some first-generation students experience imposture syndrome, which is the inability to internalize accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. Individuals with this syndrome often attribute their accomplishments to luck rather than to ability and fear that others will eventually unmask them as a fraud. Their economic and academic differences give rise to their feelings of detachment, making them feel as though they are out of the college loop.

One Big Family

Above all else the FirstGen Center provides first-generation students with a sense of community and comradery. Many first-generation students commute and work full- or part-time jobs, restricting their abilities to form connections with their peers on campus. Because the hours they spend on campus are limited to the classroom and the library, they are often precluded from participating in athletics or joining clubs. The FirstGen Center serves as an antidote for isolation and loneliness. “I’m a commuter. Going to FirstGen I feel like I’m part of a sport or club. The time that we spend there is fun and helpful for each person. [If someone walks in] sad or with problems in their classes, [they] leave with a smile and more confident,” said Meliza E. Martinez Gongora, a junior at Notre Dame College who volunteers at the Center.

Martinez Gongora, who is originally from Mexico and the first in her family to attend college, is one of six peer mentors who dispense advice at the Center. She encourages first-generation students to rise above the insults they endure. “Most of the time people stereotype first-generation students and people from other countries. I personally take that opportunity to demonstrate that these individuals are wrong. Actions speak louder than insults,” Martinez Gongora said. “One piece of advice can make a big difference in someone’s life and their future.”

Dressing The Part And Networking

The FirstGen Center not only offers academic support, it also provides advice on how to dress and network. “Sometimes there can be a false misconception that all you need to be successful in your career is a degree, but in [today’s competitive market], employers are looking for the whole package,” Kaiser said.

A big part of that package is optics. “First impressions mean everything, especially when it comes to the professional world,” Kaiser said. In addition to soft skills, employers insist that their employees project a strong professional image. The FirstGen Center’s Career Closet provides those students who may not be able to afford expensive professional clothes an equal opportunity to make an excellent first impression. “We have everything from business casual clothing to suits for men and woman,” Kaiser said.    

Once they are professionally dressed, first-generation students learn to network, or as Kaiser calls it “the opportunity to interview everyday.” The FirstGen Center offers monthly “Mentor Meet-Up events,” which give students the opportunity to network with community professionals and to wear something from the Career Closet.

The FirstGen Center taught Martinez Gongora to be more responsible and understand how first-generation students struggle in college. When someone has help from peers and tutors, she said, the journey is easy. “I’m not alone, and I help others as FirstGen helped me. I think every person in this program has taught me something and has made me stronger. Everybody’s goal is to graduate and to be proud of themselves and be a good example for their relatives,” Martinez Gongora said. •