Carrying the Weight: The True Cost of First-Gen Guilt

First-Generation College Students (FGCS) are the pioneers and trailblazers of higher education for their families. Higher education has its own unique culture, language and history which can be difficult for many first-generation college students to understand. Every semester FGCS travel through unknown territory, navigating the “hidden curriculum” while possibly carrying significant guilt for leaving their families and other responsibilities at home. This guilt manifests itself in low-retention and academic persistence rates, a poor sense of belonging both in the collegiate environment and at home with their family, and lack of engagement in the campus community. This presentation will draw on intersectionality, appreciative advising techniques, the role of advisors as cultural navigators, and personal anecdotes to uncover where this “guilt” comes from to illuminate how First-Gen University Professionals can help FGCS navigate the complexities of a “double life”. First-Gen University Professionals’ intentionality in addressing this pervasive guilt can help integrate first-generation college students into the culture of higher education and empower them to take greater agency in their own academic and personal journeys. With the support of inclusive institutional policies and First-Gen University Professionals, FGCS can graduate on-time, discover their true potential, and inspire and elevate the many generations to come

Cation dynamics in soils with different salinity levels growing irrigated rice

Salinity levels in soils of the Outer Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, can be high, due to excess of Na in the irrigation water, evapotranspiration and soil development from marine sediments. The cultivation of irrigated rice could be an alternative, since ion uptake as well as leaching by the establishment of a water layer could mitigate the effects of soil salinity. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics of basic cations in the solution of Albaqualf soils with different salinity levels growing irrigated rice. The plow layer contained exchangeable Na percentages (ESP) of 5.6, 9.0, 21.2 and 32.7 %. The plant stand, dry matter, Na, K and Ca + Mg uptake at full flowering and grain yield were evaluated. The levels of Na, K, Ca + Mg and electrical conductivity (EC) in the soil solution were also measured weekly during the rice cycle at four soil depths, in the water layer and irrigation water. The Na, K and Ca + Mg uptake by rice at full flowering was used to estimate ion depletion from the layer under root influence. Soil salinity induced a reduction in the rice stand, especially in the soil with ESP of 32.7 %, resulting in lower cation uptake and very low yield at that site. As observed in the water layer and irrigation water, the Na, K, Ca + Mg and EC levels in the soil solution decreased with time at depths of 5, 10 and 20 cm, regardless of the original soil salinity, showing that cation dynamics in the plow layer was determined by leaching and root uptake, rather than by the effect of evapoconcentration of basic cations in the soil surface layer