The University of Maryland’s First-Generation Student Association has expanded its activities and outreach this semester to support students who are the first in their family to attend a four-year college in the United States.
The First-Generation Student Association — a student leadership organization within this university’s Honors College — focuses on helping students in their transition into both the Honors College and this university as a whole, according to Angelina Hermosilla Roman, the group’s president.
“The support systems are very different. The home lives are very different and it’s just some things that are perceived to be common sense are often not,” Roman said. “[First-generation] students struggle in a way that is very unique to them.”
The club holds about one or two events each month and provides first-generation students at this university with social, professional and academic programming, the sophomore information systems and operations management and business analytics major explained.
Roman said the organization also releases a monthly newsletter to highlight resources available to members, including financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
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Chantelle Smith, the group’s founder and staff advisor and the Honors College’s assistant director of recruitment, started gauging interest for the club during the fall 2023 semester and held the first meeting for those interested that winter. Before its creation, there was no centralized area where first-generation students could go for support, according to Smith.
Smith, who was a first-generation student herself, said it can be difficult for a student to navigate higher-education institutions when their family is unaware of the academic atmosphere of a university.
Angelica Reyes, a first-generation student at this university, said she felt “overwhelmed” with the academic environment when she first entered college, as she lacked support from her parents.
Reyes joined the organization after receiving an email about it through the Honors College, the junior middle school math and science education major said
The community has helped guide her through the challenges of being a first-generation student and integrate herself into the university community, Reyes said.
“Everyone has different experiences being first-generation, but the one thing that bonds everyone together is the fact that we are all experiencing this for the first time without having the support of parents,” she said.
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Sophomore government and politics major Carlos Sanchez said he joined the organization because he believes the first-generation student community on campus is not that strong.
The group is an “amazing avenue” to connect with other students and clubs on campus, Sanchez noted. The organization works with clubs of different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds to expand members’ connections, Sanchez said.
“Having those other connections too that aren’t just the club really allows [first-generation] students to know what’s offered on campus and what might be really relevant to them,” Sanchez said.
Junior family science major Emily Nava said they appreciate the organization’s guidance in explaining university procedures to her parents, especially when it comes to paying tuition.
“College in general and the system within it is just so confusing … so being able to connect with other people and see how they have done it and how I could do it, has helped a lot,” Nava said.
Moving forward, Smith encouraged first-generation students to join the group, noting that some students are often hesitant to seek help.
“If a resource is available to you, take it. Don’t look at it as another obligation, because those resources are supposed to be trying to help you take things off your plate, not add to the burdens,” Smith said.
