December 9, 2016 - 13:12
Coming into this project I was particularly excited because I identify as a first-generation student, but at the end my perspective on this topic changed. For so for long I thought my struggles in college were because my high school did not prepare me enough, but talking to other first generation students I found lots of similarities. It was the lack of not having a parent who can guide us on how to navigate college that made it much harder to assimilate to the college environment. I was hoping to find out about the resources that Bryn Mawr has to offer specifically for first generation students, but I found that there weren’t any, despite the fact that they rave so much about having such a high percentage of these type of students. I want to take this to President Cassidy or anyone who has institution
I want to take this to President Cassidy or anyone who has institution power because this is a very serious burden that these students face and there is a lack of outreach. There is the First Goers club to help first generation students connect with others who identify the same, but the president of the club has even said that it has not been successful. The intentions of the club are great, but since it is such an invisible identity it is very difficult to put themselves out there. The president of the club said that she wishes that Bryn Mawr as an institution created a mentorship program because there’s only so much that students can do. One other thing that I noticed was that so many first-generation and low-income students feel isolated is because there is a negative stigma with these identities. I want to learn about how to lessen this stigma, and as a student said in order to get rid of a negative stigma is to address.
A common trend that I found in all the presentation was the frustration of being able to get out of our “safe houses” and create contact zones. Many left with frustration with knowing that all of the presentations presented crucial issues that need to be addressed, but the lack of knowledge on how we can actually create change.