Jessica Ilayalith Mora - Spread Your Wings and FLI: How to Effectively Navigate College as a First-Generation, Low-Income Student

Crisp fall leaves crunched under Daniel as he walked around campus. The golden trees followed him as he strolled, the breeze gently grazing his sweater, offering him comfort. As a Texan who wasnt used to living in cold climates, he was making do with layering two sweaters. As he got deeper into campus, he felt the limestone buildings grow taller and taller, surrounding him in a cloud of whiteness and privilege. In that moment, he could not help but feel alone and isolated.

It had already been a few weeks since he first set foot on campus, yet not once had he found someone who really understood him. He had hoped to find community among other Latinx students, but even among them he felt misunderstood. Yes, they shared a cultural background, but they seemed oblivious to what it meant to be a first-generation, low-income (FLI) student. After numerous missed connections between his classmates, he began to lose hope of ever finding a community on campusone that would understand him without requiring an explanation.

As he made his way back to his dorm room, hands in his pockets, he sighed and resigned to make it through Northwestern as best he could. Slowly, the grandiose Northwestern arch poked its way through the trees, getting bigger with each step he took. He still remembered walking through the arch just a few weeks back, his familys wide smiles permanently sewn into his memory. Before he knew it, he reached the arch. He stood just below it, in a sliver of shade, as he waited for the walk sign to change.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a group of students hailing a cab. How do these kids afford to take cabs all the time? he thought. Yet just as the walk signed changed, something happened that would change his life forever. As the students all got into the cab, one student refused: I cant take a cab! Im QuestBridge. I cant afford it.

Daniel stood dumbfounded. Had he really found another QuestBridge Scholaranother student in the same scholarship program and one of the nations largest networks of FLI students? Unable to contain his excitement, Daniel hurriedly caught up with the student. When he finally reached him, he was out of breath but could not hold back his question.

Hey, man! Are you a Quest Scholar?

Yeah, the student answered, matter-of-factly.

Daniels face lit up. Me too! Do you know anyone else?

No. Do you?

No, me neither.

While they were both disappointed to hear they didnt know more members of the Quest community at Northwestern, they were ecstatic to have found each other. For Daniel, meeting another student like him was reassuring. For the first time since arriving on campus, he felt validated and understood.

Little did Daniel know that this friendship would be the catalyzing force Northwestern needed to make campus life more inclusive for students of underrepresented backgrounds. Eventually, this duo would advocate for a center for FLI students and create the largest QuestBridge Scholar chapter in the country. When Daniel was unable to find the community he needed to feel at home, he made his own family of FLI scholars.

Colleges and universities nationwide have become more focused on increasing socioeconomic and racial diversity on their campuses. Yet in their rush to create a diverse environment, they have oftentimes overlooked what resources it might take for underrepresented students to succeed. First-generation, low-income students are one subset of students that have experienced this lack of support from their institutions, resulting in gaps in academic success across income brackets.

Recent research on the topic has found that while the graduation rate gap across race and ethnicity has been closing, the gender and income gap are still increasing over time.

Just because a FLI student arrives on a college campus does not necessarily mean they know how to take advantage of all the resources available to them. Even if all students within a university have equal access to resources and support systems, FLI students dont always know about them or how to go about asking for help. Gaining acceptance to college is only half the battle. The other half is making sure all students, especially underrepresented students, experience a sense of community and a level of psychological well-being that contributes to their persistence to graduation.

As a first-generation, low-income graduate from the University of Chicago, I have experienced some of these gaps myself. Unlike many FLI students, I graduated from a private high school on a scholarship, meaning, at least academically, I should have felt more prepared than my low-income peers. In some regards, I was. I knew what office hours were. I had developed close relationships with my professors. I knew how to ask for help. Yet even with all of these tools in my toolkit, there were times where I felt unprepared for what I would face in college.

How could I tell my friends I couldnt go out to eat with them because I had to save money? How could I explain to my professor that I couldnt go to office hours because my work schedule conflicted with them? Whats the difference between the bursar and the financial aid office? These questions were all on the top of my mind as I tried to balance academics, internships, and personal relationships. I couldnt be the only FLI student going through these issues at UChicago, let alone across universities nationwide.

In an effort to investigate this further, I decided to research the experiences of low-income students at elite institutions for my thesis on public policy. For my thesis research, I interviewed thirty low-income students at the University of Chicago to gain insight on their experiences regarding academic, personal, and professional development on campus. One of the most salient findings was that almost all students talked about feeling isolated and like an imposter, particularly during their first two years of college. During their first and second years, they did not feel like they were able to advocate for themselves, seek out the right resources, or find a sense of belonging on campus. Due to the structure of the public policy department, I ended my thesis with recommendations for UChicago to better serve the needs of students. These recommendations included:

Establishing an adequate transition during academic advisor turnover

Continuously asking for feedback from students on how to improve programming

Adding resources to ease the high-school-to-college transition for FLI students

Emphasizing community building among FLI students

Better advertising of FLI-specific resources to students

While I learned a lot in drafting these recommendations, I realized that sustainable and large-scale change would take years to implement. So what happens with FLI students now? As we wait for institutional change to come about, its important that first-generation, low-income students today have the tools to succeed. Its not just about getting students to graduation and into the workforce; its about ensuring students are able to thrive on a college campus and gain the social and professional skills that will prove invaluable in their adult lives.