Starting college can be a difficult transition for anybody, but first generation college students can face additional challenges.
About one-third of SUNY Oswego students are first generation students, and director of student orientation and family engagement Justin Dickerson, said sometimes they need additional support to thrive.
"When you're talking about, 'I have never even set foot on a college campus, and my kid is going,' that's very different. You hear about student organizations, and your mind goes to K-12, and that's a very different scenario,” he said.
Now, thanks to a $4,000 grant, SUNY Oswego is expanding its services to help. The money will allow the university to expand a one-day orientation session into a two-day overnight orientation for first generation students.
Dickerson said the students can meet new friends to help them thrive socially and learn about the logistics on campus.
“We're going to tell our staff, we need to demystify college in these sessions. So, cut those acronyms, reduce the jargon. Stop talking about things like you are expecting people in the room to know what it is,” Dickerson said. “We need to be speaking to these folks as if they're trying to learn this all for the first time because they are, and that's OK."
Dickerson said if the university can help first generation students on those first days, it can help them avoid pitfalls during their whole college experience and beyond.
"This program's really designed to say, here's all the buttons and levers that sit in front of you in college. If you ever need to push them, here they are. Here's how they work. You may not use this for a while, but I want you to know how your control panel works, so you're never going, 'Oh my God. What do I do?'" he said.
Sessions will also highlight some of the strengths first generation college students bring to campus. Dickerson said, with the right support, they tend to become some of the most exceptional students and best ambassadors for SUNY Oswego.
