First Class
They are trailblazers, role models, and architects of their own futures. Meet five of Southern’s first-generation students. By Villia Struyk
AS
A UNIVERSITY COMMITTED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ANTI-RACISM,
Southern strives to support first-generation students, who comprise about 39% of the undergraduate student body. They’re a diverse group, representing different economic backgrounds, ages, races, and nationalities. But all are united by a single definition at Southern: neither parent has completed a four-year college or university degree.
In the spring 2022 semester, the university reached out to these students with a short questionnaire.
Our goal: to learn a bit of their stories — the successes and challenges. The motivations that illuminated their journeys and the stumbling blocks along the way. They also were invited to participate in a photo shoot conducted by Isabel Chenoweth, university photographer, and Callie Newberg, a student photographer and sophomore special education major. The resulting exhibit can be seen online: SCSUphotography.exposure.co. In the following pages, we spotlight five of these first-generation students. All are inspiring — and all show a firm commitment to earning a college degree. A lot is at stake, most obviously, income level. Consider a report released in May 2022 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics aptly called, Education Pays, 2021. The median weekly earnings for those with a bachelor’s degree was $1,334 — significantly more than for those with only a high school diploma ($809) or some college but no degree ($899). There are, of course, more benefits — both personal and societal. When compared to those with only a high school diploma, graduates who have earned a bachelor’s degree are significantly less likely to live in households affected by poverty or participate in public-assistance programs. The boons continue: bachelor’s degree recipients are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, enroll their children in preschool programs, volunteer, vote, and even exercise.* But it’s the personal satisfaction that comes across most strongly in many Southern first-generation students’ stories. Beatrice Tartt-Warren is a telling example. In her 50s, she returned to college part time after facing formidable obstacles, including a life-threatening disease. Today, she’s a senior with a stellar academic record, inching ever closer to earning a college degree. “It feels so good,” she says, which in this instance, is everything. * Education Pays 2019, The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society, The College Board
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