What’s it like being First-Gen at Kean?

By Josephine Carrillo | Published November 18, 2023

In honor of Nov. 8 being the official date for the National First-Generation College Celebration, The Tower asked Kean University first-gen students to share their experiences on college and get an insight into their perception of college. 

“Growing up with a single mother who couldn’t continue her education path because of becoming a mother at a young age was very humbling. My mom made it a goal to support me to go to college and get a degree to help me achieve my career goals,”said Angie Benitez, a senior majoring in public relations at Kean.

Benitez also mentioned one of her biggest struggles was applying for college, which was her mother growing up and doing most of her schooling in El Salvador. Her mother was not familiar with the process, and it was her friend’s parents who helped her apply and gave her advice on what the college experience would be.

Meanwhile, Senior Zulimar Bermudez, majoring in Communications at Kean, shared her story as a first-generation college student after being born and raised in Venezuela. 

“My parents always influenced me to go to college, even though they did not have the same opportunities that I have, they always advised me that going to college and being an educated woman was the key to being successful,” said Bermudez.

According to The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, there are four different types of challenges first-gen students stumbled upon while in college; psychological challenges, academic challenges, financial concerns, and social challenges. 

Psychological challenges consist of family conflicts and guilt, shame, confusion, and anxiety; first-gen students feel guilty over having an opportunity that their family members did not have, this causes confusion and anxiety since they are setting an example for younger generations and going into a completely different world with none to little knowledge about the college experience. 

Academic challenges can affect the college experience for first-generation college students since the academic system is new to them and may not have been properly explained to them when they began their college journey. This can cause students to feel less confident about their academic progress.  

Sophomore Juan Tobon, majoring in Theather Performance with a minor in Acting in Film, opened up about his experience so far at Kean as a first-generation college student in a Colombian household. 

“One of the biggest challenges that I encountered when I first started college was managing my time between shows, rehearsals, and homework,” said Tobon. “I would sometimes get home at midnight just to do my homework, which was stressful at times. Getting 3 hours of sleep is not fun at all.”

Financial concerns are a major challenge for first-gen students, which may lead to them getting student loans to get an education, or applying for scholarships and maintaining the required grades the scholarships ask of them to receive the aid they need for their education. 

Christina Chiarella, a senior majoring in Sports and Event Management and a minor in Marketing, shared that one of her biggest challenges was the application process.

“The FAFSA process, getting financial aid and other things regarding that,” said Chiarella, “I think this is because my parents have never gone through this themselves and I’m also the oldest child so they didn’t know how to help me so I was left to do it alone.”

Social challenges also play a big role in first-gen students’ concerns and struggles since most if not all first-gen students may have to deal with stigma and discrimination at some point in their college journey, such negative encounters may lead to isolation or the feeling of not belonging to the campus environment, in worst case scenarios, leading to students dropping out or missing out on the opportunity of growing their social network.

“My junior year in the fall semester was a very tough time for me, mentally, I wasn’t doing well,” said Benitez. “I was a speech pathology major here at Kean, and with the pandemic and lack of mental healthcare at the time, I was super close to even dropping out of college. My mom and I decided to create a plan, I would take the spring semester off to decide what I wanted to do and get the mental health that I needed.”

Benitez says switching her major to communications and taking that semester off was the best decision she ever made and saved her college career. 

“I have never thought about leaving college,” said Bermudez, “Sometimes college is difficult but leaving has never been an option for me.”

On top of being full-time students, Tobon, Benitez, Bermudez, and Chiarella are part of clubs/ organizations at Kean or have other responsibilities outside of campus.

Tobon is apart of the Kean Theater Council, Benitez is apart of the Morris Ave PRSSA and a Social Media Manager for Southfield Plainfield Soccer Academy, Bermudez has a part-time job, and Chiarella is the Vice president of Kean Sports Business Club and a Kean Athletics intern. 

When asked what is a piece of advice they would give other first-gen students, the four students agreed that time management is a must in order to stay on top of your academics and extracurricular activities. 

“I think I would tell other first-gen students that they aren’t alone. It’s ok to ask for help,” said Chiarella “Utilize your connections and resources and take advantage of all the opportunities around you. It took me until my senior year to really get involved and I regret that.”

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