SHREVEPORT – Fear is normal for any college student starting their academic journey, but for a first-generation student, more of that fear is rooted in the unknown.
First Generation is a student designation in which neither parent holds a four-year college degree. They are blazing their own college paths without previous knowledge within their families about how college works.
LSUS hosted 18 first-generation students and their families Friday at an event called First Gen Bridge to Success, which is aimed at building relationships with these students before classes start Aug. 19.
Kesha Simmons, who operates a nonprofit You Too under the umbrella of Louisiana Goes to College, said her first-generation experience led her to help other students in the same situation.
“To be afraid is normal, but don’t be afraid to ask questions,” said Simmons, who added that recent research and attention from colleges directed at first-generation success means that more resources than ever are available. “It’s very frightening, and even though I had strong support from my parents, they had jobs that didn’t require a college degree.
“I had to navigate a college campus, choose an academic major and a career – I figured out I had to be an adult very quickly.”
Simmons, who earned a master’s degree from LSUS in 2013, donated 13 chests of dorm room and school supplies through her organization to help LSUS first-generation students make the transition.
Her organization helps prepare students and their families for college through readiness workshops and mentoring programs.
First-generation faculty and staff at LSUS shared their own stories, often starting in small rural towns where nearly all residents didn’t have a college education.
Laura Perdue, the director of the LSUS Foundation, set foot on the University of Missouri from her small town in the same state, but figured out a smaller setting best suited her needs.
“The best thing about going to a place like LSUS is it’s the type of setting where you have fantastic people on this campus who want to do everything they can to help you succeed,” Perdue said. “There are resources tailored specifically for you, and we want to make sure you have everything you need.”
Perdue added that college graduates on average earn $1.4 million more over a lifetime than their counterparts with just a high school degree.
Demitrius Brown, vice president for student affairs, hails from Greenwood, Miss. As an undergraduate at Mississippi State, Brown said he often struggled more with what was going on back home than the academic coursework.
“There’s a pressure that I had to get this right, and I was navigating the emotional concept that I had opportunities that my family didn’t have back home,” Brown said. “I had food security on campus through my campus job, but my family didn’t always have that at home,” Brown said. “My family and I both noticed that there started to be significant changes between us, that I was going down a different path. But you have to be radically selfish about your education and your opportunity because that’s the only way you can lift up others.”
LSUS chancellor Dr. Robert Smith remembers a math professor wagging his finger at him when he visited after a rough experience in a linear algebra class.
“He said, ‘You can do this, but you’re going to have to change the way you do things,’” said Smith, who’s authored 10 calculus books before transitioning into administration. “I’m one of you.
“We believe in you, and you can do this.”
In addition to the inspiring personal stories, the workshop highlighted specific topics such as explaining college GPA and satisfactory academic progress, how to maintain eligibility for financial aid and scholarships, developing mentor connections among current students and staff, and creating a roadmap using available resources.
LSUS has ramped up programming for first-generation students, which experience a higher dropout rate than the other segments of the student body.
“The main objective of this workshop is to have first-generation students come in before classes and start to meet each other and to meet us,” said Angie Pellerin, assistant vice chancellor for student success. “I was a first-generation student, and I want these students to know that a lot of LSUS faculty and staff were as well.
“We also wanted to get parents involved because they have questions and anxiety about all of this, and we can help them establish that foundation to best support the student.”
LSUS recently earned membership into the FirstGen Forward Network because of its programming for first-generation students.
