{"id":28898,"date":"2019-11-06T16:05:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T21:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=28898"},"modified":"2019-11-07T09:13:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T14:13:00","slug":"first-gen-finds-its-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2019\/11\/first-gen-finds-its-place\/","title":{"rendered":"First Gen finds its place"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Endia

Endia Butler, center, (works in Financial Aid) with her two mentees, Juan Aponte, left, and Amanda Lin.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI have something to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixteen-year-old Juan Aponte wasn\u2019t sure what to think as he stared at his mother from across the couch, waiting for her to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to go live with your aunt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It was 2017 and Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, had left a devastating wave of destruction across most of Puerto Rico, his home country, a few months before.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext thing I knew, I was at the airport,\u201d Aponte remembers.<\/p>\n

For the next two years, he acclimated to life in Watertown, Tennessee. It wasn\u2019t without its challenges. He started high school in the United States with no academic records.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked to the people at my high school (in Puerto Rico) to get my transcripts and records before I left, but they couldn\u2019t get to anything because there was no electricity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

After graduation from his Tennessee high school this past spring, Aponte had to get used to another new environment: college at UTC. He had little idea what to expect because he\u2019s the first in his family to go to college.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I felt a little bit lost,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was tough because I didn\u2019t really know anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

All that changed when he got an email about a new mentorship program for first-generation students during the first week of classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to an interest session, thinking I could meet people who were in my shoes or someone who\u2019s been there before. Maybe they could give me advice or just be an ear to talk to,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Belonging and Purpose<\/h2>\n
\"Crystal

Crystal Edenfield (director of the First Gen program) with her mentee, Anna Reeves.<\/p><\/div>\n

Crystal Edenfield also knows what it\u2019s like to find her own way as a first-generation college student. The UTC director of student success programs grew up in Silver Creek, Georgia, a small, rural town where the nearest grocery store was 20 minutes away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got our first stoplight by the time I graduated from high school,\u201d she says with a smile.<\/p>\n

Now a college graduate with a Ph.D. in education leadership, Edenfield wants to make a positive impact on students from similar backgrounds. Since coming to UTC in February, she\u2019s created a living, learning community, a freshmen mentorship program, and other initiatives geared specifically for first-generation students. About 25 percent\u2014or approximately 2,200\u2014of UTC undergraduates are first-generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want those students to feel a sense of belonging and purpose while at UTC,\u201d Edenfield explains. \u201cIf a student feels like he or she has found their place on campus, they are more likely to commit to college, get involved and be more active citizens in the campus community.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways Edenfield helps to connect first-generation students to campus is the freshmen mentorship program. Interested students are paired with a UTC faculty or staff member who was also first-generation. Mentors serve as a coach, advocate and role model for their student. They provide individualized support and guidance to help the student make a successful transition to college. In its first year, the program has 85 student participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents want to see other students, faculty or staff who look like them,\u201d Edenfield says. \u201cThat way they can identify with others and see that they belong. They can say to themselves \u2018Yes, I can <\/em>do this. There are people on my side to help me. There are people who started where I am and graduated to do great things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mentoring the Next Generation<\/h2>\n

Endia Butler felt disconnected when she first started college. Though she’s now working in the UTC Office of Financial Aid, she vividly remembers her struggles as a first-generation student after graduating from Chattanooga High School Center for the Creative Arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege was really hard for me,\u201d she remembers. \u201cThere were so many students. I went from my high school graduating class of 82 to thousands of students on campus. I felt like I was just a face in the crowd. If I had a question, I didn\u2019t know who to ask or where to go. I felt really alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving students someone to approach with questions is one of the main reasons she signed up to be a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really worry about students who were like me and have no one to help them navigate any part of this process. I was raised by my grandmother and, when I got an email my first year telling me I lost my HOPE scholarship, I thought, \u2018I don\u2019t know what any of this means,\u2019\u201d Butler says. \u201cI want to make sure my students know that they can reach out anytime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butler currently mentors two students\u2014Aponte and Amanda Lin, a freshman from Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can send a text and ask \u2018Hey Endia, can I come by your office?\u2019 and I just go and talk to her,\u201d Aponte says. \u201cI was surprised by how fast we bonded. I expected something more formal. Instead, we have a good friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin echoes Aponte, calling the program a positive experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very grateful to have signed up for this, to have met new people and to have gotten Endia as my mentor,\u201d Lin says. \u201cI honestly think I\u2019d be lost if I hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Managing Expectations<\/h2>\n

When Anna Reeves received the news that Edenfield was her mentor, she was excited to learn from a fellow first-generation student who had so much experience in higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like having a friend who checks on you,\u201d Reeves says. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone to lunch together. It\u2019s really nice to know I have her if I have any questions or need anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that Reeves has settled into college life, she has some advice for other first-generation students.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t put too much pressure on yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing the first in your family to go to college is a big thing. You should proud of it. It does come with a lot of responsibilities, but remember that you\u2019re only human.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Edenfield, it\u2019s not uncommon for first-generation students to feel more pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked with current students and they feel such responsibility to do well in school and graduate college. Not just for themselves, but for their whole family. They feel that they would be letting down their entire family tree if they don\u2019t,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my personal experience, I felt a lot of pressure. I felt like ever since I was little, it was understood that I was going to be the one to go to college. Everybody in my family told me I was going to go,\u201d Edenfield continues.<\/p>\n

Paying it Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Kenny

Kenny Tyler (works in Facilities) with his mentee, Abraham May<\/p><\/div>\n

Now a licensed architect and the director of engineering and planning services at UTC, Kenny Tyler grew up helping his grandfathers and father, who worked as a carpenter, painter and electrician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be out on a hot roof in the summer and they would pull the plans out and say, \u2018Kenny, I want you to be drawing these one day,\u2019\u201d he remembers. \u201cI was very lucky to have people in my life who encouraged me. My parents still tell me how proud they are of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school and college. He signed up to be a mentor in hopes of providing similar support to another first-generation student. He was paired with Abraham May, a freshman from Smyrna, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t know anything about college before I started at UTC, so I\u2019ve appreciated the help. It\u2019s been easier to adjust,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI have something to tell you.\u201d Sixteen-year-old Juan Aponte wasn\u2019t sure what to think as he stared at his mother from across the couch, waiting for her to continue. \u201cYou\u2019re going to go live with your aunt,\u201d she said. It was 2017 and Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, had left a devastating wave of… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":28901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,70,7712],"tags":[94170,83314,94173],"class_list":{"0":"post-28898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-faculty-and-staff","9":"category-students","10":"tag-first-gen","11":"tag-first-generation-college-students","12":"tag-mentors","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nFirst Gen finds its place | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - 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