FIRST GENERATION AGGIES

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A first generation student celebration was held in Rudder Plaza in November 2019 to allow students to explore their resources.

Kaylee Cogbill — THE BATTALION

First generation students make A&M home through organizations, networking

By Jane Turchi

@JaneTurchi

Although an intimidating transition for any Aggie, incoming first generation students may experience extra difficulty while adjusting to college life. Texas A&M offers a range of advising and networking services for first generation Aggies preparing for college.

First generation college students represented nearly one fourth of students attending A&M in the spring 2020 semester. During the 2019-2020 school year, first generation student retention rates in the university increased over four percent.

Kelley O’Neal is the director at the Byrne Student Success Center. O’Neal works with students in the College of Education and Human Development’s First Generation Network.

“First gen students, they don’t have that source of information at home that they can go back to,” O’Neal said. “[They] don’t have that source of information at home, so we are that source for them.”

Opportunities exist for first generation students across the university. The First Generation Network offers workshops and access to success coaches from the Academic Success Center. Colleges within the university often offer more degree-focused networking opportunities.

“Texas A&M is so big and there are so many resources, they can become overwhelmed,” O’Neal said. “Building that little first generation family makes the institution feel smaller.”

First Generation Aggies (FGA) is a student organization founded in 2019. University studies senior Abel Guerra serves the FGA as historian, assisting with the organization’s social media.

“A lot of first generations, when they come here ... everything’s new,” Guerra said. “We have an organization that is very open, and we just try to bring everyone together whether that be for our study sessions or giving advice on certain classes or just hanging out just anything in general, we really aspire to that environment.”

Performance studies sophomore Cassandra Rivera joined FGA in spring 2020. It was most helpful to receive advice from upperclassmen as a first generation student, Rivera said.

“I had no clue how to fill out student applications and things, that was definitely a big challenge for me,” Rivera said. “It’s really difficult to be a first generation student and not know what you’re doing and just having to figure everything out on your own because you don’t have the ability to ask your parents to help.”

Connecting with fellow students is important as a first generation student, Guerra said. Aggies hoping to become more connected can visit the FGA’s website or connect through their GroupMe.

“I’m a first generation student so I can really connect to those feelings of being in a new environment and not really having anyone to go to,” Guerra said. “I think networking is probably one of the most important things throughout your college career, and we really provide that foundation for creating a network.”

Community health junior Ayde Ordaz joined FGA after being introduced to the organization at a tabling event. While college is exciting and fun, freshman year was a difficult transition, Ordaz said.

“I have an older sister who went to A&M, so thankfully I did have some guidance from her,” Ordaz said. “Either way as a first generation student you go through the process of applying and attending college completely blind because you honestly don’t know what it’s going to be like.”

Ordaz advises incoming first generation students to learn from their experiences, even if they fail a test or miss an assignment. Through her own experiences, Ordaz learned to ask for help and push forward.

“As a first generation student I put that much pressure on myself because of the fact that I didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I didn’t want to disappoint my sister, I didn’t want to disappoint myself,” Ordaz said. “Putting that much pressure on yourself, knowing that you have no experience … was very hard and very challenging.”

Ordaz built connections with other first generation students through FGA and other similar organizations. It is important to build connections to gain advice and encouragement, Ordaz said.

“The professors are there to help you, they want to help you,” Ordaz said. “Your advisors really are there to help you and reach out to the academic success center. There are resources that are free, just go and find what works for you.”

First generation students can be overwhelmed by the number of traditions at A&M, Ordaz said. Ordaz makes an effort to share the history behind traditions with other first generation students.

“Any first generation student that I meet is very intimidated by the traditions and they just look at me like ‘do you really stand at every single football game? Why do we do a wildcat?’” Ordaz said. “So getting to explain every single tradition to them in a very calm manner that isn’t overwhelming to them is pretty fun to see.”