FIRST on the Journey

Mission Statement
The intention of this student group is to provide a closed safe space for students that identify as being the first in their family to pursue a bachelor's degree As a community we discuss issues surrounding language barriers, financial challenges, cultural shock, anxiety, pressures, adjustability, and much more. As much as we all appreciate having the space to talk about our experiences, we like to have fun too! Catch us at an off campus outing or making dinner, either way, you're in for a treat!

Greetings!
Welcome to our First Generation College Students, Student Group page!

Being first-gen is much more complex than a simple label and we talk a lot about what the identity means to us as individuals. As a community we do not exclude folks who do not fit the explicit federal guidelines of being a first generation college student - you define the identity for yourself. If you are interested in being a part of our student group, please feel free to join us at our weekly meetings; any point in the semester is a great time to join and we have LOTS of events you can find us at if you can't make our weekly meetings. If you'd like to check us out through another medium, find us on facebook through Hampshire College student groups, we’re listed as FIRST on the Journey; we use the forum as a space to update folks on upcoming events or learning opportunities - and it's a space for people to ask questions on things they made not want to ask faculty, staff, or non-first gen students about. Below are some of the topics we discussed last year and we continuously talk about throughout the years.

Things we address: [This is not an exclusive list]
 * the application process- what did access to Hampshire look like
 * financial burdens- how to make the best out of FAFSA & other financial resources
 * intersectionality- how do class, race, ability status, etc. inform our first gen identity
 * roles we play at Hampshire College as students, student staff, classmates, etc.
 * familial issues- how to have difficult conversations with loved ones about Hampshire
 * the pressure from family and ourselves to do well- being the first can mean learning for others
 * how to make the best use of resources- who are people we can rely on

Upcoming Events
We've been a part of a lot of awesome events and as the semester comes to a close we only have a couple events left to share with you all.

ONE: This semester we're continuing our series called “FIRST on the Journey” where we invite faculty, staff and alumni to talk about their journeys as first generation college student graduates. It's a space where the Hampshire community can appreciate and learn from the journeys of people who were the first in their families to not only pursue education, but to earn a degree and enter the workforce. There are a lot of complexities with being first-gen so each speaker seeks to speak to their own experiences that have shaped their values and pursuit in life.

The next lunch journey will happen on April 20th. Come back on April 16th to check out who our final speaker for the SPRING'16 speaker will be!

TWO: We'll be having a brunch to unite first-gen faculty, staff and students (and allies) to celebrate a closing to the academic year! There are a lot of details that need to be planned but check in after April 16th for an update!

Past Events
Here are the posters from the past four FIRST on the Journey: My Story series we've hosted:











On April 9th four students and two administrators attended the FOURTH ANNUAL FIRST GEN SUMMIT hosted by CLASS ACTION and Williams College! Hampshire College co-hosted along with other schools, to show our commitment to expanding our support for learning opportunities. This summit was primarily put together BY students FOR students, which is really great. This years theme this year was INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES OF SUPPORT and because Hampshire has been stepping up its work to support first-gen students at Hampshire, we presented on: "Taking a cross institutional approach to creating a network of resources for first-gen students". Email ceod13@hampshire.edu if you're interested in joining more Hampshire community members at next year's summit happening at Tufts University!





We were excited to be a part of the second annual Five College First Gen Mixer. Last year it was hosted here at Hampshire and this year it took place at Amherst College! Last year we had an attendance of 17 students from Amherst College, Smith College and Hampshire College. This year we had a turnout of exactly the same number (which was a total coincidence!) Check out the flyer and photos from both mixers.











Our workshop on making the most out of your summer



First-gen students had the opportunity to get one on one help at the writing center amongst other first-gen peers working on their final papers



Our first Annual Welcome Dinner invitation



A documentary screening we hosted for the community!