An Overlooked Piece of First-Gen College Success: Overcoming Past Traumatic Experiences

Transitioning to higher education is a challenge for most first-generation students; however, it can be even more challenging for those who have experienced past trauma. Up to 85 percent of young people report being exposed to a traumatic event before entering college. Often, educators who are not trained to recognize trauma responses can miss signs when they appear in their students. This can create distance in the student/educator relationship. This workshop session will help educators recognize signs of and triggers for trauma so that they can better serve the students in their care. Using the principles of the Sandy Blume’s Sanctuary Model, participants will explore the impact of an individual’s culture, experiences, and traumas on their perception of Safety, Emotion, Loss and Future (S.E.L.F.). The workshop facilitators will further discuss how these perceptions translate into individual behavior, interactions with others, and responses to conflict in life and within the lives of people who have experienced trauma. It is the presenters’ hope that educators will gain a deeper understanding of firstgeneration student’s experiences and needs in order to improve relationships and learning in the future

Put Some Respeck on the Respect of the First-Gen Student Experience

First-generation students bring various experiences and understandings to the educational environment that can enrich the overall experience for students, faculty, and staff members. Although this student population has meaningful past experiences to share, they often do not know how to capitalize on those experiences or how the experiences align with ultimate college success. As educators, we often miss the mark focusing on the task of being a “student” versus building on the strengths learners already have within them. It is easy to view and interact with these learners from a deficit mindset, negating the abilities they already have. At Rutgers-Camden, we recreated our onboarding student experience that allowed us to concentrate on learners’ strengths rather than perpetuating a deficit mindset. While creating a pre-immersion experience for first-generation students, our focus shifted from skills deficits to reflection on action. Reflective practice supports learners to better understand their abilities and how those abilities align with the new expectations in an educational environment. This process helped learners to begin to develop their college identity which will continue to serve them throughout their college experience. Students created digital storyboards showcasing how they will use their previous experiences to be successful in college