BC F1RST resident Alexandra Kabo â24, right, talks with Hardey Hall Resident Assistant Idris Council â22, center, and Resident Director Marco Aurelien. (Peter Julian)
For first-generation ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ students, arriving on campus represents a milestone, a triumph over considerable odds. But itâs also only a beginning, and the rest of the way isnât necessarily any easier.
Thatâs why, according to student affairs professionals and other experts, âfirst-gensâ fare best when they have resources, including caring, committed campus staff, to help them face educational, social, and economic challenges markedly different from those of fellow undergraduates.
At Boston College, the newest such support, created by Learning to Learn, is BC F1RST, one of eight Living and Learning Communities, known as LLCs, administered by the Universityâs Office of Residential Life; LLCs such as Multicultural Learning Experience, Sustainability, and the Shaw Leadership Program offer the opportunity for students with shared interests or backgrounds to live alongside and regularly interact with one another. Fifteen first-year students make up the inaugural BC F1RST LLC cohort, which is housed in Hardey and Cushing halls on Newton Campus. Â
The BC F1RST LLC, an extension of BCâs similarly named ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ transition program, is a collaboration between Learning to Learn and Residential Life to offer initiatives, activities, and servicesâfrom guided group discussions on ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ life and other topics and informal to chat-about-what-you-want gatherings (although these have been constrained or moved to virtual formats because of the pandemic)âthat enable first-gens to connect with one another, as well as with BC faculty and staff. These enable BC F1RST LLC members to develop support networks across campus and beyondâincluding with first-gen alumniâthat will help them succeed at BC, administrators say.
“ Coming from a similar background, our mindset is âWeâre all in this together,ââ she said. âYou find out a little information, you share it with everyone else. ”
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One BC F1RST LLC student is Alexandra Kabo â24, a biology major with a Spanish minor from Silver Springs, Md., who plans to become a doctor. She credits her mother, a Cameroon native who emigrated to America a few years before Kabo was born, as a source of inspiration and persistence.
Alexandra Kabo â24
âAmerica is viewed as a land of opportunity; that was always, and still is, my motherâs belief,â said Kabo. âShe taught me that education, wanting to learn, is keyâeven if youâre not good at it, if youâre trying and you have the will, thatâs all the matters. The emphasis on education has always been my foundation since I was a little girl, and Iâve placed high expectations on myself.â
Having attended Catholic schools, Kabo felt Boston College was the best place to fulfill those expectations, and the BC F1RST College Transition Program gave her a good start, introducing her to other first-gensâsome of whom are now also part of the LLCâwith whom she can share triumphs, setbacks, and handy details about ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ life.
âComing from a similar background, our mindset is âWeâre all in this together,ââ she said. âYou find out a little information, you share it with everyone else, even if itâs something like how you address a faculty memberâif youâre used to calling your teacher âMr.â or âMrs.,â you donât necessarily know youâre supposed to say âProfessorâ or âDoctor.â I look forward to our small group meetings, because we get to know each other, and be closer to one another.â
Working with ResLife to create a BC F1RST LLC just made so much sense. Itâs helped to expand our officeâs resources, and those of BC, to first-gen students in a new and important way. College life can be difficult for anyone, and first-gens can have challenges that go beyond financial. Yet these students come with a lot to offerânot just to BC, but the world beyond.
âFor all their commonalities, first-generation students have their own individual stories, and their own dreams and visions for the future. The BC F1RST LLC is part of BCâs efforts to ensure first-gens like Kabo experience the Heights in a way that suits their particular interests, personalities, and needs.
âWorking with ResLife to create a BC F1RST LLC just made so much sense,â said Learning to Learn Director Rossanna Contreras-Godfrey. âItâs helped to expand our officeâs resources, and those of BC, to first-gen students in a new and important way. College life can be difficult for anyone, and first-gens can have challenges that go beyond financial. Yet these students come with a lot to offerânot just to BC, but the world beyond.â
An average of about 260 first-generation undergraduates have enrolled at BC during the past five years, and in the last decade the percentage of first-gen students in the first-year class has ranged from nine to 11 percent. The Universityâs commitment to recruiting and retaining first-gens is reflected in its multitude of programs and resources, which in addition to BC F1RST and Learning to Learn include Options Through Education, the Montserrat Coalition, and the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center.
That commitment was strengthened earlier this year by the Universityâs establishmentâthrough a partnership with Pine Manor Collegeâof the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, to focus on recruiting and graduating more underrepresented and first-generation students. This year also has seen BC designated as a First-Gen Forward Institution by the Center for First-Generation Student Success; receive a five-year, $1.7-million federal TRIO Student Support Services grant to assist low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities; and enter into a partnership with QuestBridge, a highly respected non-profit program that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships to the countryâs top-ranked ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ and universities.Â
“ Itâs important to learn from others, to have a reciprocal relationship, so that you keep moving forward and find opportunities to see what works. So for BC F1RST students, I try to be positive and optimistic, but also honest and authentic. ”
The BC F1RST LLC relies on a collaboration of administrators and staff to put ideals and plans into action, among them Learning to Learn Associate Director Karl Bell; ResLifeâs Assistant Director for Residential Leadership and Learning Samantha Gordon and Mchenold (Marco) Aurelien, who is resident director for Hardey and Cushing halls; Amaris Benavidez, a Lynch School of Education and Human Development graduate student who is the graduate assistant for LLCs; Hannah Keeser, a Lynch School graduate student and a graduate assistant with Learning to Learn and ResLife; and Idris Council â22, a resident assistant in Hardey.
They knowâsometimes from personal or familial experienceâthat first-generation students have little or no points of reference about everyday ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ life and how to find help or guidance, and that these undergrads can feel self-conscious about their socioeconomic backgrounds; questions like âDo I really belong here?â can run in their minds.
The BC F1RST College Transition Program addresses these and other issues and concerns, and the LLC helps reinforce the message of support: Students are assigned a dedicated advisor at Learning to Learn and receive internship and career advice; first-year BC F1RST members also take the Applications of Learning Theory class, which covers areas like study skills, academic planning, and navigating the University; in addition, they participate in the BC Successful Start financial literacy program.
Administrators and staff say programs like BC F1RST recognize that first-gens often had to be their own counselors and advocates even as they strived for academic excellenceâand that now, having achieved their dream of ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´, they should be able to focus on being students.
Kabo is quick to praise her motherâs dedication and steadfastness, but by middle school, sheâa native French speakerâsimply couldnât help Kabo as much as before.
âAt a certain point, I had to take it all on,â said Kabo. âI had to work hard for everything. When it came time for the ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ search process, I put together a thick notebook of information I collected, for my mother as well as me, and I met with my counselor three times a week. My feeling was, I knew my mother worked hard for me so now I had to work hard for her.ââ
Council remembers being a first-gen, first-year student like Kabo two years ago, and how Learning to Learn helped him adjust to life at BCâbeing an RA is âa way to give back and to build leadership skills,â he said. A Harlem, NY, native majoring in philosophy with a minor in management and leadership, Council sees his role as helping create a safe, supportive environment for the BC F1RST community, yet his own experience has taught him that ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´ is a time to be adventurous and expand oneâs world.
âMy time at BC has been about finding people I feel comfortable with, but who push me to be better. Itâs important to learn from others, to have a reciprocal relationship, so that you keep moving forward and find opportunities to see what works. So for BC F1RST students, I try to be positive and optimistic, but also honest and authentic.â
Kabo, Council, and Aurelien
It seems like an inauspicious year to launch a program like BC F1RST LLC, but Bell has a different view. âI think thereâs no better time, actually. It gives us an opportunity to talk and work with first-gens during one of the most challenging times for higher education, and forces us to be at our best and most creative. These past several months have made us all appreciate the importance of human interactionâtalking face to face, or even just shaking hands.
âSo, for us at BC F1RST, developing inventive ways of capturing the quality of that interaction is vital at a time when itâs less possible,â added Bell, noting that Zoom has been a boon to linking BC F1RST students with first-gen alumni.
The personal touch still counts, however, and BC F1RST administrators and staff use it whenever they can. âFor me, the thing is being visible,â said Aurelien, a native of Haiti who, along with two of his siblings, were first-gens. âAnytime I see these studentsâwhether theyâre hanging out or coming back from Main Campus, or weâre sharing meals or snacksâI celebrate them as if it were their birthday. Iâm their supporter, their biggest cheerleader and want them to feel welcome.
âAnd I pound them with questions. It doesnât have to be a formal, âwhat-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-life?â conversation, just basics: How are you doing? How are you feeling? They know they can talk to me.â
Kabo wishes circumstances were different for her first year at BC, but she is philosophical about it all. âIf something is just given to you, you donât know how to work to get it. And you can even wind up becoming ungrateful that itâs there. So weâre going out of our way to brainstorm and find ways to gather and have fun, yet also stay safeâand I think weâll actually get more out of this first year as a result.â
Sean Smith | University Communications | December 2020