A ‘Fearless’ Leap Into Higher Education

“I’m the first in my family to … study French; become a nurse; earn a Ph.D.; run for office.” 

Those were just a few of the handwritten accomplishments scrawled across a board at last year’s #FearlessFirst, an event celebrating first-generation college students at UMD. At today’s third annual gathering, Terps will have the chance to add even more achievements to the list.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., students, faculty and staff who identify as or support first-generation students will gather outside the Stamp Student Union to learn more about famous first-generation students, pick up stickers and buttons and sip hot chocolate at the event hosted by Academic Achievement Programs (AAP). 

Part of a nationwide celebration launched by the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Center for First-generation Student Success, #FearlessFirst aims to bring attention to a population that often flies under the radar.

“These students are very persistent—they have a lot of grit,” said Christal Dimas M.P.P. ’15, who works in the A. James Clark School of Engineering Office of Undergraduate Recruitment and Scholarships, and who previously worked with AAP, launching this event at Maryland and continuing to provide support.

At Maryland, 730 first-year students are the first in their families to attend college, according to the university’s Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment. Faculty and staff can help support these students by taking care to ensure that they’re explaining potentially unfamiliar concepts that can be daunting to those unfamiliar with higher education—adding and dropping courses, for example, or even the basics of Greek life. 

Dimas also hopes that faculty and staff who are first-generation themselves can act as mentors to students. “We’d like for first-generation faculty and staff to identify themselves and reach out to us and say, ‘I’d like to connect with a student that’s first-generation,’” she said.