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11/06/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/07/2024 10:00

Video: What It’s Like to Be a First-Generation College Student

Video: What It's Like to Be a First-Generation College Student

As BU observes First-Generation College Celebration Day, first-gen upperclassmen offer words of advice, encouragement to first-gen freshmen

Student Life

Video: What It's Like to Be a First-Generation College Student

As BU observes First-Generation College Celebration Day, first-gen upperclassmen offer words of advice, encouragement to first-gen freshmen

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Video: What It's Like to Be a First-Generation College Student

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Student Life

Video: What It's Like to Be a First-Generation College Student

November 6, 2024
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As the first in their families to attend college, first-generation students often find themselves in uncharted territory-trying to figure out how to apply for financial aid, choose which colleges to apply to, and then figuring out where to enroll and what to major in-questions that parents, family members, and peers may not be able to help them navigate.

"It can be lonely and liberating to be a first-generation college student," says Herani Hiruy (CGS'24, CAS'26). "The entire college application process was stressful. Then there was financial aid. You have to make sure you have experience. I was afraid I wasn't networking enough. There's just a lot of things that you're like, 'Oh man, I don't really know what I'm doing.'"

As Boston University marks this year's First-Generation College Celebration Day on November 8 (the campus has been celebrating with a series of events all week long), we reached out to first-gen upperclassmen and grad students and asked them to talk about their own experience as first-gen students. In the video above, they also offer words of advice for this year's first-gen freshmen (who comprise 20 percent of the Class of 2028), share information about resources on campus to help support students, including the Newbury Center, FLIP@BU, and Student Health Services First Generation Students Support Group. They also talk about the pride they feel for all they've accomplished.

"At a big campus like BU, with 17,000 undergraduate students, you can really feel like you're the only one, especially the only one that's a first-generation student," says Malia Montalvo (CGS'24, COM'26). "Here at BU, there are first-generation students everywhere. And not just students. There are even first-generation professionals. It really is just about putting yourself out there, going to clubs, going to events, and getting to know those people-to really find out that they are first-generation just like yourself."

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  • Alan Wong

    Executive Producer

    Alan Wong oversees a team of video producers who create video content for BU's online editorial publications and social media channels. He has produced more than 300 videos for Boston University, shuffling through a number of countries in the process: Australia, Argentina, Peru, Ireland, China, and Cambodia. He has also bored audiences in Atlanta and Boston giving talks on video for higher ed. Profile

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