Blog
Find advice and follow the college experiences of our current first-gen student bloggers.
Keeping Motivation in Senior Year
Senior year has been so much fun and definitely the best year of my undergraduate experience. While it is the precursor to taking the next step in life and you are full of excitement, it is very hard to stay engaged and motivated. Since it is my senior year, I want to...
To work or not to work?
Coming into college I was unsure of what to expect in regards to time, part of me wholeheartedly thought that the only thing I would have time for in college was schoolwork. During pre-orientation (a first generation program at my college), I applied to two jobs on...
Internships, Jobs, and Summer Break Plans, Oh My!
As I mentioned in my last blog post, now is the time to apply for summer internships and jobs! The best time is to start early, over winter break or during spring break so you can secure a summer gig before most people even think about their summer plans. Working...
The Importance and Benefits of Building Relationships with Your Professors
For first-generation students, there can be a fallacy about professors in college. The classic misconceptions about professors can be that they are scary, unapproachable, tough, there to make your life harder, and just not that understanding. From my personal...
College Decision Reactions in Real Time
My phone pinged with an email message: Check your WashU Pathway. My heart fluttered and my anxiety kicked in. Admission decisions were out this early? What if I got rejected? Would everything that I worked so hard for in high school be a waste? I hurriedly...
Post-Grad Planning
The world is filled with opportunities, and I never truly realized this more in my life than I do now as I am almost graduating. The first main thing you should do by your senior year is create your LinkedIn profile. This allows you to connect with people, and most...
The Waiting Game
I applied to only a few schools my senior year of high school. I got into every school except for one, which was a school in Colorado that I was applying to just for fun. One of my dream schools accepted me, but unfortunately it was not realistically possible for me...
Navigating Midterms, Spring Break, and Summer Opportunities: A First-Gen Guide
Now that it is the midst of the spring semester, midterms are looming on the horizon. Many of us look forward to spring break, while others are considering their summer plans. Balancing your academic responsibilities with personal and professional goals can be scary....
Navigating college
Being the first in your family to attend college is a huge feat that I’ve realized is often not acknowledged as such by first-gen college students. Imposter syndrome can play a huge role in the way people perceive themselves, and I’ve had to actively make it my...
How To Deal with Burn-out as a College Student
As college students, we have all felt burnt out at one point in our collegiate careers. Regardless of whether this burnout is felt in your school work, job, club, etc., it is inevitable that this feeling creeps in at some point throughout the school year.