A sign in the CASE building parking lot on Jan. 29, 2023. (Courtesy of Nathan Thompson)
The University of Colorado Boulder’s Office of First-Generation Programs & Enrichment hosted a celebration for National First-Generation College Celebration Day on Nov. 8.
The event honored current students whose parents did not complete a four-year college degree program. As of fall 2023, first-generation students account for 16.1% of CU Boulder’s first-year class.
“My mom’s from Mexico, so the highest education that she got was from middle school,” said Diana Hernandez, a first-year student studying aerospace engineering. “My dad went to high school in Texas, but unfortunately, he couldn’t go to university due to money issues.”
For many students, being the first member of their families to attend university comes with challenges, beginning with the college application process itself.
“Applying was really stressful. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” Hernandez said. “I didn’t know what FAFSA was until my senior year of high school — that’s how bad it was.”
Students talked about other struggles for first-generation students, including a lack of support and understanding from families or parents who did not have experience as university students.
“When I do talk to my parents, they sometimes don’t get it,” said Vanessa Arambula, a first-year student majoring in journalism, referring to academic hardships that she has faced at CU Boulder.
Mike Jones, the program director for First-Generation Programs and Enrichment and a first-generation student himself, said a lack of familial experience in college settings led him to feel out of place or excluded.
“I remember the first day I moved into my residence hall. I looked around me, and everyone else had a room full of stuff… futons and big, big microwaves and refrigerators,” he said. “I had this one little mini microwave and this one little mini refrigerator and one suitcase because that’s all I had… I was like, ‘Maybe I don’t know what I’m doing in this space.’”
The event, which the university described as ‘a day that is all about you’ for first-generation students, aimed to give first-generation students a sense of belonging on campus.
“It’s important for us to remind ourselves that we are enough and that we do deserve to be in this space,” Jones said. “We all focus on trying to make sure… that students aren’t just supported, they don’t just have financial means to be here, but they feel like they belong here because they do belong here.”
Additionally, the broader work of the Office of First-Generation Programs & Enrichment celebrates the contributions of first-generation students to the campus community through scholarships and mentorship programs, among other initiatives.
“What’s really important… is that we want to create space where we’re not only supporting students, but we’re also finding ways to celebrate them. A lot of times when we think about first-generation students, we’re thinking about it through this lens of ‘What is it that a student needs?’” Jones said. “We also want to make sure that we have spent just as much time talking about what it is that the student provides to our university… and creating this unique space that is CU Boulder.”
Contact CU Independent News Editor Jessi Sachs at Jessica.Sachs@colorado.edu.
