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A First Generation College student is defined as the first person in the family to attend college or the first person in the family to attend college and obtain a degree. There is a lot of pride and pressure that comes with being a First Generation student. I speak with Krickett Friend, a college student at UNLV, about being a first generation student.
The Minority Serving Institution Student Council (MSISC) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas along with KUNV Radio are proud to present 'You Gon Listen', a twelve part podcast that aims to shine light on the issues and experiences that minority students and staff face at UNLV. The purpose of this series is to hear and learn directly from one another. We hope to create a dialogue about social issues and current events that shape our daily lives in order to make UNLV a better and more inclusive place.
0:00:00
Welcome to You Gone Listen at 91.5 KUNV. I'm your host, Karen Jean Charles, and I'm here with Cricket Friend, a student at UNLV, and we're talking about first-generation students today. A first-generation college student is defined as the first person in the family to attend college or the first person in the family to attend college and obtain a degree. There is a lot of pride and pressure that comes with being a first-generation student. Expectations are high for students to make names for themselves, to succeed, to get well-paying jobs, and many other things. But college is complicated and can be incredibly scary if you go in without being able to ask for help from your family or the ins and outs of college. Nationally, of the 7.3 million undergraduates attending a four-year public and private colleges and universities, about 20% are first-generation students. About 50% of all first-generation students in the US are from low-income families, these students are most likely to be a member of a racial or ethnic minority group. A lot of challenges are stacked up against us and it's important to not only familiarize yourself with support systems if possible, but mentorships and advice from other people who have gone through the same thing that you're going through. So before we get into it, you're listening to You Gone Listen at 91.5 KUNV. I'm your host Karen Jean-Charles and once again I'm here with Cricket Friend and we're talking about being a first-generation student today. So first I want to thank you for coming. Can you tell me your name, major, and a little bit about yourself?
0:01:54
Sure, so my name is Cricket Friend. I'm a senior my last semester here at UNLV. I'm majoring in finance. It's been a wild ride getting to that point, but I finally made it. A little bit about me, I am a first-generation student. My dad went to college for a semester and a half or so, and then ended up going in the army, so he didn't actually finish his degree. A little bit more about what I do on campus, I have two on-campus jobs, so I'm constantly learning from other students and hearing about other people's stories. I also am the president of the First Generation Club at UNLV. Period. So I, you know, organize a big organization of over 100 members to try to give community for first-generation students, give them a voice, and give them the resources that they need. Because a lot of first-generation students, they go into school and they have no idea what to look for, who to talk to, and that's kind of what our organization is for, is to have a community of people to show that they're not the only person in the situation and to kind of give them all the resources they can so they can get the full college experience. Yeah, that sounds
0:02:56
amazing. Look at you being the president, period. So what was the first day on campus like for you?
0:03:04
First day on campus for me, I kind of want to tie it back to like my very first time being on the university campus, knowing that I was going to be a student. I ended up looking around, I got advice from a mentor I was on, because I was originally part of the Honors College, and I had a mentor that was assigned to me. And one of his key things was, you know, find out where your classes are, since it's a big campus. So I ended up walking around campus just to figure out what the buildings were, where they were, and you know, how I was going to track around, you know, how I was going to track from one class to the other. And it was really interesting because one of my professors I actually had, it was a photography class I was taking, was very much just like, hey, I'm here, you know, let's chat and let's figure out your, your experience here. And she found out it was my very first semester. I'm a first generation. So it was just like, I got you, you know? And, you know, having those people around you and knowing that there are other people out there that are like, you know what, I got you. I know your situation. I know what you've been through. And that was kind of for me and just going through the first day of school and just classes like going back and forth figuring out You know the syllabus day that everyone seems to always know about and you know, just you know figuring out that wow I'm actually a college student and I'm you know finishing I'm going toward the goal that I want to accomplish which is you know, end up with the grad I graduate with an undergrad degree and then you know just trying to get through life and a situation that I have no background of really from my family or anyone around me in my Friend group or anything like that. Yeah, but you're almost done. You're about to graduate I know like I I'm so ready to be done. It's been four years and you know I know there's a lot of students that sometimes that four years is not doable and I got I got lucky being Staying in the same business school. I'm just changing slightly degrees. I changed it at the right time so I wasn't like behind anything. And now I'm debating if I want to go in the workforce first or if I want to do master's first. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. So I'm still working on that.
0:04:59
Hold on. Like you're doing your thing. I see you.
0:05:04
I try, man. I swear, you know, starting out college, I was a commuter student going back and forth. Home, school, come home, do homework, sleep, and repeat. So finally being able to be involved on campus, have a job on campus and everything, it's been an eye opener just to know what's out there and what opportunities you can kind of have and get that full college experience of interacting with people rather than just going home, doing homework, going to sleep, go back for class and that's it.
0:05:31
And so I'm really glad that, I mean, just a little background with Cricket and I, we both work at the intersection and that's how we met and like just going to the intersection like that was my first experience I'm just like oh so college can be cool okay because like I was you know one of those people just come on campus I would like dress real cute and just be like okay but I still have no friends though like ain't nobody here though and I'll just go home and then Dr. M, you know Dr. M.
0:06:01
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She got me into it. She got me into knowing everything and living your best life on campus. Right. She's the go-to.
0:06:08
She's the OG.
0:06:09
And she works at the intersection too. So if y'all ever want to visit, I mean, like right now, like when campus is open and stuff, like the intersection is right next to the information desk in the student unions. We have a food pantry in there. Like this is a little bit of a promo for the intersection, but we have like food in there. You can like have people look at your resume sometimes and just like get information if you're confused. So I might be in there sometimes if you're lucky, but yeah, so how did your family affect your education?
0:06:42
Is there a lot of pressure?
0:06:43
I mean, with being the first, the oldest sibling and being that role model for my siblings, it's definitely been a decent amount of pressure, you know, because you know that your younger siblings are looking up for you, looking up to you. And I've always said, if I can show and make a path that they know that they could follow, at least they know, okay, well, Cricket's done it, so I can continue to go that same route. And I think, just with family in general, my family is super proud that I'm almost ready to finish and they're like, you know, you've gotten through all the struggles especially with right now with a pandemic. It's really difficult and you know, with what I've always told people like right now, everyone it seems like is a first-generation student right now because everyone's learning how to do school remote, how to do it in a pandemic. So it's a whole new thing especially and you know, unfortunately my family is upset that the graduation will be a virtual rather than a regular full celebration of commencement, but you know, it's something you gotta deal with sometimes and you gotta live with the situation at hand and make the best of it. So you mentioned that you're the oldest sibling, I cannot relate because I'm the baby in the family, but now your siblings connect through UNLV and I think that's, I mean, like not just, you know, but they can go anywhere, but like, you know,
0:08:07
go to UNLV y'all.
0:08:08
I got my youngest brother going in next semester.
0:08:11
So I got it.
0:08:12
I'm already hooking them up. Like, okay, you need to talk to Dr. M. You need to be at first generation club. Like you got to do this, this and this. Yeah. Trust me. I'm, I'm, I'm pushing it.
0:08:20
Haven't become an intern, you know, haven't talked to Dr. M.
0:08:22
Right, right.
0:08:23
Dr. M is the hookup. I also like to shout out Dr. Barlow because I need to show my girl love. We have the same birthday, but I don't wanna say. We both Leo's, Leo gang. But what do you do when the pressure gets too high? How do you relieve the stress?
0:08:40
For me, because I really like to listen to music and just kind of jam out. My go-to if I'm in a stressful moment or things are getting hard for me, my thing is to close my door, lock the door, and just jam out to music I love just listening music sometimes singing to it. You know not you know 100% like I'm not you know Beyonce or nothing I Take music as my escape. I think and and being able to either relate to a song you're listening to and realizing that it's connected to something you're going through right now or a Happy moment that you've had in the past. I think that's that's my go-to is to you know release with music And I've had music a lot in my life, you know and trying to use that as a way to Enjoy life and to get rid of a lot of the stresses of things, you know I've been through a lot with stress and you know, it's even sent me to the hospital which is which is kind of scary you know, but I found out that I don't want stress to take over and I find the outlet and for me outlet is music and you know expressing what I can. We need to share a playlist because you know I'm very interested in like what you listen to because I love music too. Like we can definitely share a playlist. Yeah, yeah, definitely. We'll give you a number after this. So because of Corona, there are a lot of freshmen who have never set foot on campus. So where is your favorite place on campus and where would you recommend they go first? My favorite place, like when I first got on campus, pre-COVID, was always the library, I think. And not that it, you know, connects to where I work now, you know, but I've always liked how the library was laid out and how you can look out the window and see so much of the city. And then of course, there's always a parking garage where you can see the whole strip. I love seeing that scenery and everything. And yeah, I think my go-to is probably the library just because you have so much resources over there. I know there's some new resources going in and some of the new things that came in right before COVID. So I'm hoping once everything kind of settles down, people can use those resources. So that's probably my go-to place and, you know, just finding a good spot on campus in the grass and just sit and relax. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I miss pre-COVID college days. Yeah. That was a good year. I'm a sophomore, but like that was a good year. That was a good first year. Yeah. Going to the library and just chilling getting a little coffee and I'm going upstairs reading a book you know it was fire I also miss all the the events happening on campus like constantly free t-shirts free food just walk around you know yeah people had like Chick-fil-a like breakfast sandwiches they're just handing them out one morning I was like yeah I've always legit yeah I've always seen like pizza or the canes it's just like you better grab it and get some food like before the stampede starts coming cuz we're hi other people going for some food they're like that's one thing that you can sucker a college student doing anything is just like oh yeah we have free food but you know you want to talk about this that's what I do with my RSO it was like we got free food if you want to you know partake in you know learning about certain resource on campus or just you know getting to know other people that was a go-to So if you bring up any student free food free t-shirts, you know free stuff. That's For me, you know
0:12:09
Like the amount of free t-shirts I have in my college in my closet now that I'm just like I cannot wear this anywhere But like the grocery store is like this doesn't fit my outfit or whatever and it's like I just have so many free t-shirts from UNLV. I'm just like, I like, you know, you can bribe me with anything. I'm, don't, don't take that advice, you know, and actually bribe me, but I don't know. Girl, I'm just talking. But did you receive any guidance from mentors that helped you, and what was the best advice that you got from them?
0:12:44
I mean, really the only guidance I had from the beginning, just because I didn't really connect with on campus, I didn't really do any organizations or really talk to any departments or anything like that. But the one person I can think of is my honors college mentor. And he basically, some of the things that he told me was, you know, find where your classes are, connect with the students in your class. Sometimes we're all struggling with the homework. We're all struggling with the assignments. So, you know, create some study groups, create some groups where you can figure out the homework. Or, hey, I got this part, but I didn't get that part. And then also the find your textbooks at a cheaper place or buy them secondhand. That was my go-to. Like, I don't think I've lost money on a textbook yet. So, yeah, I've always found it secondhand or, you know, and I usually sell them secondhand. Like, hey, you know, I spent this much on a book and it's still worth that, it's still in good condition. So I haven't lost money yet. And I think I've made a couple bucks on a couple books,
0:13:39
but you know.
0:13:40
Oh, come on, you're a genius.
0:13:41
I never even thought about selling my old textbooks. Nah, you're a genius.
0:13:46
Like, you got the IQ. Yep, if it's not like a coded one, one you have to have an online code for, definitely see if anybody, especially with your first or second semester classes are all on 100 levels, they're all basic, more basic class where everyone seems to kind of take those, like your seminars, your English, or whatever, those books get reused most of the time. Sometimes they get updated, sometimes you realize, well, I can give it to somebody so they can learn something off of it. You know, it might not be helpful for that class, but you know, information is key, man.
0:14:15
Yeah, absolutely. What are some things you wish you knew before your first day on campus?
0:14:21
I think the first thing I wish I had known when I first stepped on campus was about getting involved. You know, I went two years being a commuter student, not doing anything. And now that I have been involved on campus, I'm doing a lot of different things. I wish I had started sooner. Because, you know, depending on how fast you get through college or how long it takes you, you know, you always wish you had done something earlier. And I think knowing that being able to get involved on campus and get to know that there's community people that either have similar interests to you or have similar stories to you. I think is key. And then something else I wish I had known is to reach out to people and ask questions. But there's departments on campus like the Writing Center or the Career Center or things like that. But ask questions. I think that's one of the things I always like to tell new freshmen coming in or anyone that asks questions is something that stuck with me as a professor actually said to me this semester, which is kind of something I always like to say is that there is no such thing as a stupid question. The only stupid question is the question you don't ask. Because, you know, there are times where you're in a class and you have a question, but you're too scared to ask it. But I would rather students ask the question and know the answer and only have that scare moment for a second or two, then not know that answer for months upon months or if ever, you know, and I think, you know, and asking those questions because no question is dumb. Like everyone seems to always need to know some form of information. And it's better to know the information and get the resources that you need, then, you know, go through college and not know that there's a writing center or what you can get a career center or the library, how they how they have the textbooks, you know, on for reserves, you know, if you don't ask these questions or you don't know who to reach out to, you know, always find somebody, whether it's your professor, you know, a mentor, or even just someone in a group or friends or whatever, ask the question, you know, it's not, no, no question is a dumb question. Yeah, I do feel bad for like the freshmen who are just coming from a senior year, and then they're just coming into college, and this is their first year. I really do feel bad for them because I'm just like, freshman year is like where you get your feet wet you're just like okay I don't know what's going on but I'm figuring it out slowly and just like not having that experience is like I mean you can still have that experience later but just like it's not the same yeah yeah for sure if you're listening to this and you're a freshman you're just like I don't know what to do you know or like look up your RSOs like on you can see how much of clubs. There's a lot of things are online. The writing center is online People can look at your resume online all of that So if y'all, you know need those researches resources you do pay for them So, you know, please use them you might as well you make that money worth it, you know Yeah, like they're making you pay it might as well get get some good resources and good information out of it Yeah, make them work for their money, you know? Exactly! Like, we're paying a lot of money to go on college online when you're sitting in your like, your living room, your bedroom, and you're just basically teaching yourself. But just like, you have resources, you have people that can help you and want to help you. So just, you know, find your people or just find that place that you're just like, okay, this person likes to look over my essay, they do really good job or here at the Writing Center, I know their name and all that. Just, you know, get familiar with the resources, y'all, please. So did your expectations of college meet the reality? I think it kind of did, actually. I originally came from a career technical school called East Technical Academy.
0:18:02
I went to Southwest Korean Technical Academy. There you go, okay. Look at us.
0:18:05
Yeah, but you know, I think the way that they set up those, that school and that high school experience, having those block schedules has definitely made it easier to transition to college and learning what college is more like. And I think because when you go to one of the career technical schools, you have, you know, your basic English, science, math classes, but you also have something like a program similar to a major here at UNLV or any university. And having, you know, you have your core stuff that you would do in college, and you would have something you're interested in studying. And I think that just knowing, having that experience, and then kind of getting a little bit more information from my high school about what college should be like, or how, I guess, the class structure should be. I think it has definitely met my expectations for that. But of course there's always been new things I'm learning every single day on campus so there maybe it hasn't met all the expectations or all my knowledge but it definitely has followed a lot of what I've been told at least based off of you know high school experience and things like that. Yeah going to I mean I went to Southwest but yeah that school really I mean in my experience they kind of overdid it because they talk about like oh your professor won't allow you to like come in late your professor won't allow you to turn in assignments late like I'm preparing you for college I'm just like professors are the late ones like right people are waiting outside for their professors like yeah you have to email about grading your work and you're just like hey like is this going to be available soon? Or like, you have to talk to your professor about your, most of my professors I've ever had have been like really chill. And they just like, okay, well, this is the whole, how the whole class is going to be. If you have any questions, email me, goodbye. I'm like, okay, well, but just like, do not be nervous if you're coming into college and you think it's going to be like super hard, super strict, just, I mean, it's a lot more difficult because of the pandemic, you're kind of having to teach yourself a little bit. But there's, once again, there's resources that we talked about. Like there's also tutoring.
0:20:10
So, yeah.
0:20:11
I mean, if you connect with your professor, you let them know what situations you're going through. Like, trust me, there's been times where I have been like family life or just world life has just, you know, been falling apart and things like that. And if you talk to your professors, they understand. They probably have been through similar situations or understand the situation you've been through. So if you need an extra couple of days for that, turning in that essay, or, you know, hey, you know, I'm, you know, not in the best space to take this exam. Is there a way we can reschedule or do something? You know, I think professors definitely have given a lot more leeway, especially during the pandemic with, you know, people having internet issues, like connection issues, or, you know, people can't get on a specific time because they have a working schedule to work around. And I think professors have definitely gotten a lot easier with a pandemic, but it's also, it's not everything is due by this time and you have to be X amount of pages, write hundreds of pages of essays every semester. Like no, it's professors are a little understanding. They're definitely understanding as to what a college student goes through. They know you have multiple classes. They understand that they're not the only class and everything needs to be done by tomorrow. People be working and stuff, children, the whole thing. Yeah, everyone has a different story. Not everyone's coming out of high school and going straight to college. A lot of people either come back after they've been in the workforce or they have a family or just want to finish that degree but it's taking them 40 years or whatever. I think that's a big thing. You know, they understand everyone's in different situation. Everyone has been through different life experiences.
0:21:45
Yeah.
0:21:46
Girl, I just love hearing you talk. You should have your own podcast, girl.
0:21:50
Maybe one day.
0:21:51
Enjoy my podcast.
0:21:52
You know what, you know what about the mic, you know? Come in soon, maybe? I don't know. So what can we do at UNLV to help first-generation college students navigate college? What are some resources you recommend? I mean, we already talked about it, but just like to reiterate. Yeah, I think some of the big resources is, you know, getting to know like the intersection where we work or get to know certain organizations like First Generation Club, you know, get to have those resources, you have a community of people working for you or knowing your situation or been through the same stuff. And then just going through and finding resources on campus, whether it's writing center, career center, involvement center with, you know, different RSOs and things. I think just being able to see what all is out there for you and taking every opportunity you can. Obviously don't, you know, overload your schedule with a bunch of club meetings and getting fall behind in classes, but, you know, find the few things that you think are really interesting and go for it.
0:22:51
Wow, okay. So are there any social medias or projects that you're working on that you'd like to shout out, any people you'd like to shout out? Let us know.
0:23:03
Yeah, sure. Some of the things I've been working on is, of course, First Generation Club. We are definitely working on creating a bunch of different events for students, whether that is, like we just had one last week that was the Writing Center to give them helpful tips on writing essays, as well as scholarships and things. We have one in a couple weeks that is going to be for career services, so learning out resumes and cover letters and things like that. We're also coming out with trivia nights and game nights coming up soon to have, sometimes midterms, you need a break. So we're definitely doing those. So if you want to learn more about any of those information resources, we have our Instagram, Instagram, which our handle is at UNLV1GC. So if you want to learn more about those, lots of stuff is posted on there. I'm also helping working out for next year's first generation week. I'm trying to help make sure there's different departments on campus that are getting involved in giving resources to students. Like there's enough first generation students on campus that we need to be seen and we need to be heard We need all the information we can yeah, so definitely give it look up for those I know intersection and first-generation club is also involved with those so keep you know looking at their information as well And just you know find something to do and Those are my biggest things I'm working on really. Right on but just like I want to add some resources to that if you guys want to look up the I mean MSI student council they sponsored this podcast so if you guys want to get we have some events going on so unlv underscore msisc for our Instagram and the intersection also has an Instagram unlv intersection so we have a panel that's coming up and like if y'all want to pull up and just learn about you know women and just being a first generation student. I know I'm doing an interview with Dr. Fain later this semester that we can just talk about first generation students. So have a look out for that. But yeah, just there are so many resources. Just look up like at UNLV and there's going to be RSOs just to look through their Instagrams. So just pay attention and just like take advantage because y'all got it. Y'all got it. Okay? So one of the other things I'm also working on which is first-generation club in general is we are actually opening our doors wider than we have ever before. A lot of the university definitions of first-generation is, you know, students either their parents didn't go to college or didn't finish at a foreign institution or didn't finish with a degree. For first generation, we actually are working on opening up the doors where it's more about just learning about resources and wanting to know more. We have, example we use for our organization right now is, your parents may be doctors or lawyers and obviously have finished their college degrees, but you want to do a graphic design, those resources are going to be different that you're going to need. So obviously having that background, you know, with your family, they may be able to tell you the common core a little bit, but they're not going to have much information about your actual major or something connected. So we have kind of opened up, like if anyone has, you know, that kind of family background where your parents did finish, but you're doing something outside of your friend's circle or your family life or anything like that, you know, we've opened up our doors a lot. And especially with the pandemic right now, we've opened up to basically any student that's trying to figure out how to go to school in a pandemic, you're basically first generation. So, you know, having that space to give them and have them have a way to just have somebody to reach out to, ask questions to, get resources from, I think first generation has definitely opened up a lot of doors and just being first generation in general, whether that's first generation student, first generation immigrants and things like that, like having that open space for them, I think is something that we really are super proud to have created and working on as well.
0:27:04
Wow, okay. They're there to help you and like take advantage of your resources, take advantage of your college life because people say that this is going to be the best, like, for, you know, how many years you're in college is the best years of your life. So even though we're in a pandemic, you know, you still don't have to like fall behind or just feel left out or whatever.
0:27:28
I feel like you're just going to Zoom University. Basically, you can definitely you could definitely like take advantage and like meet new people, cool people.
0:27:38
Like, so.
0:27:39
Yeah, whether it takes four years or 40 years, yeah, make the most of it.
0:27:43
Absolutely. So thank you for listening to You Gone Listen. I'm your host, Karen Jean Charles,
0:27:51
and I will see y'all next week.
0:27:52
Not even in that Florida water.
0:27:57
In that Florida water on my drain. Sip, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip. Got it on my drain on my drain. Got it on my drain on my drain. Sip, sip, sip, sip, sip.
Transcribed with Cockatoo