The 10th Annual First Gen Summit will be held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Nov. 5th. This one-day conference aims to inspire discussion about what it means to be a first-generation student and link first-generation students with resources to support their success. Made by students for students, the First Gen Summit is a space for individuals who identify as first-generation students, as well as for faculty or staff.
Sherly Gonzalez, a sophomore business management and marketing student and the Public Relations Chair for Monmouth’s First to Fly Club, said, “I believe the First Gen Summit 2022 is an outlet that allows students to learn more about being a first gen and make them feel encouraged. Through different panels and presentations students will be able to learn about different experiences and ways to overcome different obstacles as well as learn about different resources.”
For many students, there is a lot of pride and meaning to being a first-generation student. Gonzalez expressed, “To me, being first gen means that I have the opportunity to further continue my education and start up my dream career. I have the resources and support that my parents didn’t have, and I am thankful for all their hard work.”
“My parents both immigrated from Mexico and had me at a young age,” Gonzalez continued. “They have worked endless hours, and throughout it all they have always supported my educational aspirations. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”
Michelle Bulnes, a junior marine and environmental biology and policy student, and Vice President of First to Fly, believes that the First Gen Summit 2022 can help students further understand what it means to be First Gen in the educational world.
Bulnes stated, “It can help teach us what to expect during and after college, while realizing how large our community is and how essential it is to share and accept support from others. It is also a way to show and embrace the pride that accompanies many first-generation college students.”
To Michelle Bulnes, being a first gen means she gets to access opportunities that members from her family never did. She stated, “It means that I get to open up paths never known before for myself and those that come after me. It means that I am able to pursue my dreams of higher education.”
Claude Taylor, Director for Academic Transition and Inclusion who leads the campus-wide initiative, First to Fly: First Generation at Monmouth, said, “I am very proud of our involvement with the First Gen Summit. To me, the summit is a unique opportunity to learn about the perspectives of college students who identify as first-gen, to gather information about what initiatives can best support first-gen student success, and for all summit attendees the chance to build community together around the first-gen college experience or identity.”
Taylor continued, “Our students benefit from networking with students, faculty and administrators from a wide range of colleges and universities in the northeast and learning from a variety of perspectives on the first-gen experience.”
Taylor described his experience attending a previous First Gen Summit and mentioned that The Class Action First Gen Summit is closely linked to the development of First to Fly: First Generation at Monmouth. Several students and faculty offered workshops and are proud of the contributions made to the summit planning committee.
Taylor said, “In the spring of 2018 a group of Monmouth students traveled to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts for their very first summit participation and it was instrumental in the establishment of our first-generation support initiatives we founded that year. Monmouth has been a regular co-sponsor of the summit as a way to support attendance and participation to the summit for all first-gen college students who want to go.”
He is most excited that this year will be the First Gen Summit’s 10th Anniversary and that First to Fly has a lot to celebrate as a part of the first-gen college student community. “We’ve helped to create the space for celebration and community; it will be gratifying for our First to Fly Hawks to join in the success of the summit,” he said.
Cassandra Salas is a senior political science and sociology student with minors in Spanish and gender and intersectionality studies. She is currently the President of First to Fly and has been with the club since 2019. She expressed that being a first-generation student means taking full advantage of the opportunity to attend college.
“My mother is an immigrant from Costa Rica and since I was a little girl, she preached the importance of hard work, determination, and perseverance,” she said. Like many first-generation students, she believes education is freedom.
Salsas asserted that she is beyond grateful for the opportunity of being part of the first-gen community at Monmouth University. She said, “The idea of the First Gen Summit is that it is created by students and is for students, which I think is awesome. This allows us to share our stories with others and support each other through the experience we call college. [It] will come with some challenges, but [it] is extremely rewarding!”
