During her junior year of high school, Nickoll Garcia learned about extracurriculars through the show “Gilmore Girls” and navigated much of the college application process by using Google and YouTube. Now a college senior, Garcia, a youth and community studies major, stands among the 24.6% of first-generation undergraduates at UT whose parents or guardians have not completed a bachelor’s degree in the United States or students whose parents have degrees from outside of the U.S. 

To celebrate first-gen students like Garcia, New Student Services hosted First-Gen Week, a campus-wide initiative that started on Nov. 4 and continues until Nov. 8. The initiative included events showcasing first-gen student and keynote speaker speeches, small group wellness conversations, an alumni networking panel and a celebration with live music and food. Garcia said resources like these help first-gen students navigate college life.

“Even though you’re the first, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it by yourself. I don’t think you can have a positive experience by doing it alone,” Garcia said. “Just because you don’t have specific resources doesn’t mean that you have nothing. You just have different ones, and that’s OK, but you got to use them.”

Kayleigh Damphousse, New Student Services associate director for transition initiatives, said universities should celebrate first generation students because they had to go through the college admissions process independently and, by pursuing a higher education, created a new path for their families and future generations. 

“Where some people had their families to rely on and get guidance of what to expect, these students didn’t know what to expect,” Damphousse said. “Yet, they are being successful and they have found and paved their own path.”

Ethan Thompson, first-gen government and political communications sophomore, said joining student organizations helped him find a sense of belonging, but he continues to feel imposter syndrome sometimes. 

“I think a lot of first-gen students still feel that way: not sure if they belong after doing enough,” Thompson said. “A lot of first-gen students try to overwork themselves to reach that perfection that they think they need to be.” 

Damphousse said First-Gen Longhorns, which includes the First-Gen Experience Program, the First-Generation Living Learning Community and celebratory campus-wide events, aims to give first-gen students guidance and community.

“The biggest resource that a student has is knowing that there’s fellow first generation college students that have been through this and have representation of first-gen faculty and staff that have … navigated through the system,” Damphousse said. 

Garcia said celebrating first-gen students is important because after graduating, they may serve as the only person in their community with a college degree, and they can act as a resource for others. 

“Once you have someone in your community that has a college degree, that person can fight for you. They can advocate for you. They can mentor you. They can talk to you,” Garcia said. “Celebrating first-gen students is a way to change the world, which is what UT wants to do.”