Video: What It’s Like to Be a First-Generation College Student
As BU observes First-Generation College Celebration Day, first-gen upperclassmen offer words of advice, encouragement to first-gen freshmen
Video: What It’s Like to Be a First-Generation College Student
Video: What It’s Like to Be a First-Generation College Student
As the first in their families to attend college, first-generation students often find themselves in uncharted territory—trying to figure out how to apply for financial aid, choose which colleges to apply to, then figuring out where to enroll and what to major in—questions that parents, family members, and peers may not be able to help them navigate.
“It can be lonely and liberating to be a first-generation college student,” says Herani Hiruy (CGS’24, CAS’26). “The entire college application process was stressful. Then there was financial aid. You have to make sure you have experience. I was afraid I wasn’t networking enough. There’s just a lot of things that you’re like, ‘Oh man, I don’t really know what I’m doing.’”
As Boston University marks this year’s First-Generation College Celebration Day on November 8 (the campus has been celebrating with a series of events all week long), we reached out to first-gen upperclassmen and grad students and asked them to talk about their own experience as first-gen students. In the video above, they also offer words of advice for this year’s first-gen freshmen (who comprise 20 percent of the Class of 2028), share information about resources on campus to help support students, including the Newbury Center, FLIP@BU, and Student Health Services First Generation Students Support Group. They also talk about the pride they feel for all they’ve accomplished.
“At a big campus like BU, with 17,000 undergraduate students, you can really feel like you’re the only one, especially the only one that’s a first-generation student,” says Malia Montalvo (CGS’24, COM’26). ”Here at BU, there are first-generation students everywhere. And not just students. There are even first-generation professionals. It really is just about putting yourself out there, going to clubs, going to events, and getting to know those people—to really find out that they are first-generation just like yourself.”
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