To commit to four years at an academic institution is a significant decision. It is a personal choice, and one that can be daunting and rife with unknowns. For many students, parents, older siblings, or other family members are an important resource; their university experiences can provide valuable insights, reassurance, and guidance.
They can also be a resource that we take for granted. For students who are the first to attend a post-secondary institution in their family, the decision to pursue higher education is even more complicated.
First-generation university students make up a significant proportion of U of T’s student population. Many face a unique set of challenges, as they do not necessarily have familial resources from which to seek advice.
“Many first-generation students may lack the ability to navigate this unfamiliar environment and may be unprepared for the challenges, expectations, and pressures of the university environment,” says Lucy Fromowitz, assistant vice-president of student life at U of T.
These challenges are something first-generation university student Samia Tasmim experienced in her first year at U of T.
“I was an international student new to Canada and living away from home… I also felt alone and without anyone to guide me,” explains Tasmim, who is currently in her third year studying health and disease and physiology and originates from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Fortunately for first-generation students like Tasmim, who are trying to navigate through university without shared experience with relatives, there’s First in the Family (FITF), U of T’s program for first- and second-year first-generation university students.
FACILITATING CONNECTIONS
“[First in the Family] is designed to assist those students who do not have an immediate family member with experience attending post-secondary education who then act as a guide to the university environment,” explains Fromowitz. “It provides programming tailored to the needs of the first-generation student and ongoing support throughout the year,” she adds.
Creating space and resources geared toward supporting students who are first-generation university attendees is something Adonica Huggins, Student Life Coordinator for Academic and Peer Programs, acknowledges as one of the most vital services U of T can offer, even before students come to the university.
“First-gens need to work harder than second- and third-generation students,” says Huggins. “The First in the Family Peer-Mentor Program reaches out to students and their families at various events during the year, to continue to encourage first-generation students to find out about, apply, and attend post-secondary [school].”
FITF operates as a surrogate family for first-generation U of T students seeking supportive relationships with other students who are in similar circumstances. The program creates channels of communication and support on both a personal and academic level.
“I joined to get advice from the mentors,” says Tasmim, describing what initially compelled her to join FITF. “The program focuses a lot on academic skills and the mentees have, for an example, more direct access to the learning strategist at the Academic Success Center,” she adds.
FITF is comprised of a network of mentors and mentees with the aim of creating a big brother or big sister type of relationship. Mentors like Nicole Fogel, a fourth-year science student, are there to give advice to mentees while developing their own leadership skills.
“During my third year of university, I sought an opportunity to make a difference in a student’s life by providing him/her with the knowledge and skills I had accumulated at my time at U of T,” says Fogel on her decision to join the program as a mentor. “I love the close community I’ve been able to create with mentors, mentees, and the FITF staff,” she adds.
FITF mentors hail from a diverse spectrum of backgrounds and do not necessarily need to be the first people in their families to attend university. Mentors can be first-generation students or, alternatively, the first person in their family to have studied in Canada.
In addition to providing academic support and camaraderie, FITF mentors are also responsible for meeting with their mentees, with the aim of alleviating any general concerns they have in university and establishing a bond of trust and shared experience.
“The relationship between a mentee and a mentor is a unique one,” explains Fogel, who is the first person in her family to study in Canada. “Mentors are more than friends: mentees have to also be able to trust their mentors with personal academic and social issues that can be confidential,” she says.
Huggins, who was also a first-generation student, cannot stress enough the importance of FITF mentors, particularly those who have been involved in the program throughout their undergraduate degree.
“Upper year peer mentors are critical,” she explains. “[Mentors] establish supportive learning communities for mentees to ask questions, study challenging courses together in groups, share strategies for success, increase social skills, and to help navigate the campus.” A long-term involvement in the program better informs the mentors and gives them personal experience from which to draw in their mentor capacity.
The structure of FITF aims to optimize the experience of the program for both parties. Upon entrance to the program, student mentees get matched with a mentor in their program of study and gain access to the network of services the program offers.
These services include welcome events at the start of each term in September and January, which provide mentors and mentees with the opportunity to meet and begin to get to know each other. Other services include weekly learning, leadership and social events, and one-on-one meetings with a learning strategist.
FITF also offers an annual campus-wide conference for mentees, mentors, alumni, and staff, providing another avenue for students to build connections with each other, hear the successes of others, and speak with staff. This year’s conference, Trailblazers: New Perspectives, will be held on February 28 at New College.
Tasmim, who is now a mentor for FITF, attributes her continued involvement in the program to her experience as a mentee.
AN ENDURING EXPERIENCE
“As a mentee I mainly enjoyed my one-on-one interactions with the mentors” Tasmim explains, adding, “The mentor-mentee relationship is very friendly and supportive, and at the same time not hierarchical — we are quite informal with each other.”
Although she wasn’t a mentee in her first year, Fogel wishes she had joined sooner. “When I found out about the program, I wish I had been in first-year,” she says. “I know a lot of mentors who were mentees in the program, and this did spark their interest to join on as a mentor. We also have many returning mentees to the program as well,” she adds.
“I think it’s a great chance for students to connect with their peers as well as upper-classmen to help navigate U of T,” says Fogel of the FITF mentee experience.
The connections between mentors and mentees are unique, as they are stronger and more personally geared than joining a sports team or club. The mentors extend themselves to the role of pseudo-siblings, providing companionship, as well as advice on homework or academics.
“I think what FITF offers that joining a club or team does not, is strong and consistent academic and social support,” says Fogel regarding the unique advantages that joining FITF provides to first-generation students.
That being said, Fogel maintains that teams and clubs allow students to cultivate valuable connections. “University clubs or teams can offer this too,” she explains, “but FITF mentors are able to meet with mentees on a regular or weekly basis and provide them with the skills and advice necessary to tackle their coursework… as well as help make their transition from high school to university more manageable.”
Tasmim explains that the formation of a bond between a mentor and mentee is the feature that distinguishes FITF from a club or team. “I really liked the idea of having both a close relationship with each individual mentee,” she admits.
She is also careful to stress that the relationships within the organizations and between mentors and mentees are not hierarchical. “I do not appear as an authority figure to them… we respect each others’ time commitments and other boundaries,” she explains.
CAMPUS–WIDE RESOURCES
Before students can access support programs and resources through FITF, they first must make the decision to pursue a post-secondary education — which, for many, is not an easy choice.
“U of T recognizes that access to a university education can be influenced by many factors,” says Fromowitz. She explains that while the university decision is a leap for any student, first-generation students can face unique and exacerbated financial, socioeconomic, and family circumstances that have a high degree of influence over their decision to attend or not to attend a post-secondary institution.
Huggins agrees, adding that strain can come from a confluence of factors, including being a racial or sexual minority. Combined, these factors can have considerable impact on a first-generation student’s decision to attend or forgo opportunities at college or university.
“First-generation students… don’t have post-secondary role models and supports,” says Huggins. “Often they include students who also identify as Aboriginal, [racial minorities], international [students], ESL, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ who face exclusion and additional barriers,” she explains.
For these reasons, FITF maintains a close working relationship with other campus-wide services, including Aboriginal learning strategists, the International Mentorship Program, and Accessibility Services. As Huggins explains, mentors are encouraged to refer students to the services offered by these groups. These working relationships provide additional contacts for mentees based on their specific concerns and diverse backgrounds, and complement the support offered by FITF.
Ultimately, the goal is to make the transition as seamless and supported as possible. Huggins, once a first-generation student herself, can relate to the struggles faced by first-generation students while completing their undergraduate degrees, and wishes FITF had existed when she was a student.
“As a former first-generation student at U of T, who was experiencing an incredible amount of stress coming out as a lesbian in my first year… I would have benefitted immensely from the support of the First in the Family,” she explains, while also noting the help and support she was provided with through the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office.
WORDS OF EXPERIENCE
One of the most important pieces of advice Huggins can offer to first-generation students is to do their research about all the services the university offers before and after joining FITF, stating that first-generation students should “intentionally learn about supports before they need them, and pave their own path to success.”
Senior mentor Fogel emphasizes the importance of prioritization to her mentees. She says that creating a schedule, which includes a healthy balance of extra-cirriculars and social life, on top of attending class, is key.
“Balancing everything becomes more difficult in university as time is constrained and course difficulty increases,” she explains. “One of the keys is to know how much time to give yourself, when to start something, and how to use resources to effectively,” she adds.
Tasmim shares similar advice with her mentees. She encourages them to fully engage in every aspect of their university lives. “I ask [my mentees to] participate fully in everything and always ask for help if needed.”
Tasmim adds, “I ask them to believe in themselves and carry on working hard.”
Correction (January 21, 2015): A previous version of this article stated that Nicole Fogel is a fifth-year student. In fact, she is a fourth-year student. The Varsity regrets the error.
