GENERATION FIRST
College can be intimidating enough for newcomers--but what if you're a first-generation student with no family experience or advice to fall back on?
Semaki Corfias II always knew he wanted to go to college. What wasn't as clear to him was how he would do it.
Many students turn to their parents to help them negotiate the maze of requirements, scholarships, and expectations, but Corfias' parents hadn't attended college and weren't able to draw on their own background to help him. "Having parents who didn't have the collegiate experience makes it tough," said Corfias, who grew up in the Ohio River town of Gallipolis and is now a student at Ohio State. "They don't have the advice for what to do, like when I was filling out college applications."
His parents supported him as much as they could, Corfias said. "I don't know how many times they've told me that they're proud of me."
But he also needed information, the kind that only experience can provide. For that, he turned to his high school teachers. They helped him with many of the basics, and he ended up applying for-and receiving-an Ohio Land-Grant Opportunity Scholarship, which the university awards annually to at least one student from each of the state's 88 counties. The scholarships were established three years ago and are directed in part toward students who lack a family history of college attendance and may not know about the opportunities available to them.
Columbus was a big change from rural Gallipolis. "I love the whole atmosphere up here," Corfias said. "How can you not love the environment with all the energy?"
Still, as a first-generation freshman, Corfias said he noticed differences between himself and many of his classmates. "I felt that other students who did have that background probably already had their schedules set," he said. "But I felt that I had to just kind of figure it out and take it day-to-day."
He remained undecided about his major throughout his freshman year. He started leaning toward psychology until he learned more about the profession and decided it wasn't for him. A discussion with a fellow church member led him to consider pharmaceutical sales. Today, he is working toward a degree in nutrition in industry, with a minor in business. Being undecided and then changing direction cost Corfias some time. "I took a lot of classes that didn't count toward my major, so I'll be here an extra year."
He believes he might have avoided that if he'd had others with more experience to advise him. "I feel like I had to learn for myself," he said.
A ‘UNIQUE SUBSET'
Ohio State is concerned about how the lack of parental guidance affects first-generation students, said Laura Kraus, associate director of the university's Economic Access Initiative. "They are a unique subset of students that come into any university, and they come with needs that might not be addressed," Kraus said.
The Economic Access Initiative was created in 2006. Its focus is on low-income and first-generation students who might not otherwise consider higher education. The program has taken several steps to help first-generation students, who comprise nearly a quarter of the more than 6,000 students who began classes at the university in September 2007.
Networking was one of the first identified needs. Kraus' office sent a mass e-mail to faculty members last year asking if they had been first-generation students themselves. If so, would they be willing to take part in a dinner welcoming first-generation students to Ohio State? Kraus said she expected about 40 to 50 responses. Instead, more than 400 faculty members volunteered to participate.
Ken Hale, assistant dean for professional and external affairs in the College of Pharmacy, was among them. "My parents came from an Appalachian background. My father didn't finish high school," he said. "My father is one of the smartest men I know, but he didn't have the opportunities I had."
Hale's parents moved to Columbus before he was born. "They came to Columbus because they thought that life would be better, and it was," he said.
Hale confirmed that college was a challenge for him. "There was no understanding of the academic culture. My parents hadn't been there. None of my aunts or uncles had been there. I didn't understand the importance of involvement. I didn't understand how important student organizations and getting involved would be."
Those "softer," less tangible aspects of college life catch many first-generation students off guard.
Georgina Dodge, assistant vice provost in Ohio State's Office of Minority Affairs, recalled that in her early days as a first-generation student, she was taken aback at the way some multigeneration students viewed college life.
"There were a lot of people there for the ‘college experience,'" she said. "I remember the first time I heard that expression, I was like, what is the ‘college experience'? To me, it was going to class and working to pay for that class." Dodge has since become a staunch advocate of the "college experience."
"I wholeheartedly encourage students to get involved," she said. "It's not just about classes. Pick out something you've always wanted to do and pursue it while you're here."
GOALS AND MOTIVATIONS
For many first-generation students, the "college experience" is not high on their list of priorities. Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that in families where going to college isn't a given, the "why do you want to go?" question often is answered in economic terms. First-generation students in the study were more likely than other students to say that being well-off financially and providing better opportunities for their children were very important to them.
Ohio State junior Deb Van Camp, a student member of the university's board of trustees, talked recently to a fellow first-generation student who planned to become a doctor. When she asked him why, he said he wanted a stable income. Although she was surprised he was so blunt about his motivation, Van Camp said, "I know exactly what he means. If you come from a background where your family worries about money, you can't think beyond that."
Van Camp's family encouraged her to go to college. "But as far as where I should go and how I should pay for it, they were no help at all," she said. Instead, she asked for guidance from her high school advisers in the National FFA Organization (the former Future Farmers of America), who both had attended Ohio State. Van Camp ended up majoring in food science and technology and agricultural economics. "They definitely had an influence on my career path," she said. That path has led her to a place where she can help her first-generation peers.
Van Camp won the first Land-Grant Opportunity Scholarship to be awarded to a student from Fairfield County. As part of the requirements, she had to take a work-study job. She found one in the Economic Access Initiative office, where she started a student advisory group to brainstorm how to improve access to higher education. First-generation students make up the core of the group, but the members address wider issues, such as economic difficulties.
Senior Lynanne Wolf-Sabatino is part of the group. Her story illustrates the range of backgrounds first-generation students may come from. Wolf-Sabatino attended high school at the prestigious Columbus Academy, where going on to college was expected. "I never considered myself a first-generation student," she said, "because I considered it to be disadvantaged, and I never felt disadvantaged or stressed about school."
Still, she understands how first-generation students might be hesitant about attending college and graduate school, and she appreciates the advantages the Columbus Academy gave her. "If I hadn't gone to that school, things would have been different," she said.
BEYOND GRADUATION
In addition to addressing the difficulties first-generation students face, the student advisory group is encouraging more of them to go on to graduate school. It's an issue that's dear to the heart of Tally Hart, Ohio State's senior adviser for economic access. Hart stands front and center in the university's efforts to address the needs of first-generation students--not least because she was one herself.
Hart said research shows that first-generation students are less likely than their multigenerational peers to go on to graduate and professional programs. It's important that they know what opportunities are available, she said. Hart's concern led her to seek mentors for first-generation students among the faculty. She said many students don't approach their professors because they think they won't understand where they're coming from. They assume that faculty members have had college graduates in their families going "back to the Mayflower," she said.
Such perceptions hurt students who don't realize the important role faculty members can play when they're considering graduate school, she said. "Our own faculty have been an amazing resource," Hart said. "A number of them have gotten together with freshmen who self-identify as the first members of their families to go to college and serve as role models for them."
Faculty members often can clear up misconceptions about graduate and professional programs-and misconceptions are common, Hart said. "The students we did a small test with were not aware that [the graduate school process] was different from the undergraduate process," she said. That applied especially to financing. "Students certainly did not understand that under federal rules, your parents' financial status is disregarded. In graduate school, a lot of money is based on academic merit and less on financial need."
Psychology professor Hal Arkes said he knows firsthand how such gaps in knowledge can hurt students. "I think because they are first-generation, they might have more doubts and perhaps more impediments," he said. "And I think that most of those doubts and impediments can be overcome."
Arkes recalled that as a first-generation student, he was "pretty mystified about how college worked, and I think I was in the same shoes as these students. I remember the first time I encountered registration. It was so overwhelming, I thought about making a U-turn."
In fact, he literally did turn to leave the room, but was stopped by someone who offered a helping hand. Hart's group of mentors hopes to address such situations. "We don't want students to make the wrong decision out of lack of information," she said.
Hart said the increasing focus on first-generation students and other students who face barriers to college has made for "a very interesting time."
"I've had a career out of helping kids go to college. And what's interesting is that people like me who think it's the right thing to do have been joined by people who think it's the smart thing to do, for our future and our economy."
Ken Hale, the assistant dean in the pharmacy college, said that during his daily commute he often reflects on the support he received as a student.
"I think many times how lucky I am to be here," he said. "And if my parents and others hadn't helped me along the way, I wouldn't be here, so I want to give back."
Story by LAWRENCE HOUCK
Photos by RICK HARRISON
Learn more:
Economic Access Initiative
http://www.osu.edu/access
This story ran in the March/April issue of Ohio State Alumni Magazine. To get your copy when it's hot off the press, join us.
