First-generation college students Candace Cravey, a sophomore majoring in management and accounting, and Heather Hoke, a sophomore majoring in nursing, found themselves thrown into the deep end upon coming to campus in fall 2013.
After attending an interest meeting last fall for what is now Alabama Firsts, Cravey and Hoke met with Kirk Walter, assistant director at the SOURCE, about what a support group for first-generation students might look like.
“It started as a way to get first-gen students together as a way to give them a sense of community with other first-gen students,” Hoke said.
She said while her parents want her to do well, they aren’t equipped to help her the way students whose parents graduated from college are.
“I constantly get the, ‘Well good luck. I wish you the best,’” she said.
Cravey said her parents tell her similar things, but she doesn’t want anyone to think negatively of them because of it. She said her parents’ support is the reason she is here.
Additionally, she said the group is not meant to label first-generation students as second-class citizens.
“We don’t want anyone to think we’re saying, ‘Oh, you’re first-gen. We’re going to baby you now,’” she said. “At the same time, it’s still scary jumping straight out into something no one you really know has ever experienced.”
Hoke said she felt like she was thrown in with nothing, and having a sense of community with other people who felt the same way was comforting for her.
“You can come in, and with a group of people you already have something in common with, you can talk about the struggles,” Cravey said. “You can talk about this wacky thing that happened to you.”
Hoke said they have had trouble engaging members. They partnered with Student Support Services and the Student Advisory Board in the fall for a tailgate but were disappointed by the number of members who attended.
“We have these long-term goals, but it’s finding the short-term goals and using them as stepping stones that we’re having trouble with,” Cravey said.
The two said they want to create a support system for first-generation students and others, and they’re looking for people to help them build it.
“At the moment, it’s just me and Heather, and there’s nothing that she and I have an interest in doing that we haven’t already tried,” Cravey said. “We’re still in the building phase. If anybody has ideas or something that they want to bring to the table, we’re not set in stone. You bring your idea, and we’ll do what we can to make it happen.”
Cravey said anyone who wants to help out is welcome – first-generation or not.
“Come one, come all, come anyone,” she said.
For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page or find them on Twitter at @Alabama_Firsts.
