Chapman to celebrate first-generation students with week of festivities

First-generation student banquet. Photo courtesy of Cherie Victoria Bello

When Maya Yesharim, a current second-year graduate student in the leadership development program, first arrived on campus, she was happy to see a community of first-generation students she could relate to.

“It’s a breath of fresh air to know there’s a community of students just like me,” Yesharim said.

This week, the Promising Futures Program, Chapman’s organization dedicated to aiding first-generation students, will host a first-generation celebration to uplift the community. This first-generation celebration occurs at universities across the nation, and Chapman has a week of events planned to join the festivities. Yesharim hopes this will bring the feeling of community she experienced to other first-generation students.

Photo courtesy of Chapman’s Promising Futures Program’s promotional instagram post.

“To be a first-gen student has given us all of these amazing characteristics that we have gotten from our life experiences of being the first in our families to go to college and really changing the path of our families (history),” Yesharim said.

The week kicked off on Saturday with a first-generation homecoming social before the homecoming football game. The festivities continued this morning with a breakfast celebration in the Argyros Forum (AF) Student Union and will be followed by a professional development workshop at 7:30 p.m. in AF room 209. 

Tuesday’s events will focus on financial aid and wellness, and on Wednesday, the Undergraduate Admissions Office will host a public speaking session before a first-generation ice cream and cake social. The week ends with a dinner with President Daniele Struppa, as well as a podcast interview and Q&A for first-generation students who are studying abroad.

Myra Dayrit, a freshman integrated environmental studies major, helped organize the events. Dayrit has also been involved in prior first-generation events. 

”There are so many things that come along with being a first-generation student, like not having a college fund, or not knowing what the process (of college) is like, and having to do everything first-hand,” Dayrit said. 

Dayrit explained these examples are just a few of the stressors that many first-generation students face, but the events taking place this week hope to tackle those issues.

A notable theme of the week is professional studies and events, which Jacqueline Aparicio, an assistant coordinator for the Promising Futures Program, said was done intentionally. 

”We need to provide workshops and resources to support students and help them navigate college,” Aparicio said.

Although these events can seem more professional and strict, Aparicio said they provide a chance for first-generation students to meet and get to know one another. 

“It’s not like you can wear (being a first-generation college student) on your skin, or you can wear that somewhere in your person that says, ‘Hey, I’m first-gen,’” Aparicio said. 

Although this is one of the first major events to take place for first-generation students, social events and study groups catered toward first-gen students have been taking place since the beginning of the school year. One of the other larger events, The First-Generation Summer Bridge Program, takes place before the school year begins. 

Summer Bridge is a chance for first-year, first-generation students and their families to come together to learn about the college experience. This is one of the more popular events that the Promising Futures Program puts on, since the students' families are able to play a role and stay informed, Aparicio said. 

With this week’s focus on first-generation students and their hard work, Dayrit hopes her fellow classmates will apply more empathy to the circumstances of her and fellow first-generation students, saying it would be the “best outcome.” In order to achieve this goal, the Promising Futures Program actively works to illuminate the lives of first-generation students — this week and every week.