How the First Fellows Program Strengthens the First-Generation Community

Adjusting to life in higher education can be challenging for any student. It can be even harder to navigate as a first-generation student seeking a sense of belonging.

The First Fellows Program in the College of Arts & Sciences provides first-generation students with critical academic resources, faculty mentors, financial support and a community of peers to aid in their college journey. Launched in fall of 2024, the cohort-based, holistic program now includes two cohorts that total more than a hundred students. It has helped first-generation students forge a fellowship with their classmates and gain the confidence to succeed.

"First Fellows has been really impactful in shaping students' academic identity and belonging within CAS," said Nikki Harris, the assistant director of the College's first generation student initiatives and the primary program administrator for First Fellows.

The program is unique in that it starts in the students' sophomore year. Students take a one-credit course each semester for a total of six courses that focus on community building, professional development and the experiences of first-generation students. They also receive $6,000 to fund an internship or research opportunity in the summers before graduation.

First Fellows is a complement to existing first-generation programs on campus, said Heidi Elmendorf, an associate professor in the Department of Biology and a steering committee member for First Fellows. That includes the university's Community Scholars Program (CSP), a decades-old program that begins with a five-week pre-college academic summer experience, and Georgetown Scholars Program, a program supporting first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students.

"The focus of First Fellows is on creating a community that supports students' intellectual, academic and career goals," Elmendorf said.

Building Confidence

The First Fellows program has made Imani Liburd (C'27) more confident in who she is. Being a first-generation student is not something to be ashamed of and can be a source of strength, she said.

"My first-generation identity causes me to doubt myself a lot and compare myself to others who don't have the same struggles I do, which was true at the beginning of the program," said Liburd, a government and psychology double major who wrote about her First Fellows experience for The Georgetown Voice. "Those negative ideas caused me not to take risks and focus on myself. Now, over a year into the program, I am someone who won't pass up something out of fear of rejection or failure."

In the courses, students discuss imposter syndrome and share stories about the barriers they face. Last spring, students in the first cohort gave a presentation to their classmates about a failure they experienced and how they grew from it.

"They were so vulnerable in what they were sharing," Harris said. "It normalized that everyone is struggling. Even if you fail a class, it's not the end of the world."

Scottie Vandy (C'27), who is double majoring in American studies and women's and gender studies, learned that even within a university culture that can be dominated by pre-professionalism, it's okay to not have everything figured out.

"This has been very reassuring for me," he said. "Through First Fellows, I have felt empowered as a young professional to lay claim to my own future - even if that means focusing on classes over applying for internships - and to be proud of myself for the barriers I have had to overcome to get to this point."

Fostering Community

Stephen Yupa (C'27) has met some of his closest friends through the program.

From attending weekly seminars to going on monthly dinners, Yupa said some of his favorite memories at Georgetown have been with First Fellows.

Yupa, an economics and computer science double major who is minoring in statistics, credits Harris with helping create the welcoming atmosphere.

"I've truly built a tight-knit cohort and a support network that will last not just in college but for the rest of my life," he said.

The students meet an hour each week for class, where they listen to guest speakers from various industries share their career experiences, visit the Maker Hub, a collaborative space in the Lauinger Library for creativity and innovation, and take trips to the Cawley Career Education Center for resume-building and professional development workshops.

"It is so much fun," Rylie Hannon (C'27) said. "We do a great job of hands-on learning."

Hannon, a government major who is minoring in law, justice and society, said she has been to the Cawley Career Education Center three times since she went with the class. Attending these events with her peers has helped forge friendships.

"It makes you so much more comfortable to know the resources you have when you've seen it all together," she said.

Ashley Soria-Cardoza (C'27), a biology of global health major, said she has found her "second family" within the First Fellows Program.

"Being the first to step into these grounds can be daunting but finding support and comfort with my peers has been my grounding," she said. "I wouldn't trade this experience for the world."

Creating Opportunities

This past summer, Hannon worked as an undergraduate research assistant for Georgetown Law. She collected and curated data from over a thousand eviction cases and retrieved files in different cities for a Pew Research-funded study.

Hannon, who is from upstate South Carolina, said she would not have been able to do this internship in DC without assistance from the First Fellows stipend.

"I was interested just to be in the legal world and to know that there are still opportunities in the legal field," she said. "You have to really be passionate about what you do."

Students can use the stipend for either summer or split it between both.

"One of the things about first-generation students is that they may not be able to do the internship experiences that they need to be doing to land in the professional sphere and what they want to do once they graduate, because they can't afford to," said Javier Jiménez Westerman (G'25), the associate director of the First Fellows Program. "The stipend allows students to engage in activities - professional and academic - that will help them meet their goals."

The First Fellows program also emphasizes the importance of a liberal arts degree and showcases the different paths to success, Jiménez said.

"I think students are starting to see very clearly that there isn't a one-to-one relationship from their major to professional life," he said. "I think they're starting to see that they get to have a choice about how those things play out."

For Yupa, the First Fellows Program has provided him with career pathways and connections that he did not envision when arriving at Georgetown from Upstate New York.

"Being a first-generation student at Georgetown comes with a lot of bravery, self-assurance and excitement," he said. "It can be a bit daunting but Georgetown has so far provided me with the tools necessary to succeed."

(Top photo by RCS Photography)