Marshall University recently joined many other schools across the country in the annual First Generation College Celebration.
Marshall has plenty to celebrate, with more than half the student population registering as “first gen” collegiate newcomers.
Talking in Marshall’s busy Memorial Student Center, sophomore Jaime Wheeler was ready and willing to comment on her first generation college experience. The Matewan native said as a freshman, it would have been a different story.
“If you had come to me my first semester here and asked to do an interview, I would have absolutely ran away,” Wheeler said. “I was terrified of speaking to new people. Neither of my parents finished high school, but they always had very big dreams for me.”
Wheeler said those dreams came with plenty of first gen student challenges.
“I wasn’t sure how to go about a lot of things,” she said. “There were just a lot of new experiences and opportunities, and I was really overwhelmed. But I’m a part of a few different organizations that help financially. That was a big issue for me.”
Bonnie Bailey is Marshall’s director of Student Support Services. She said up to two thirds of Marshall’s 12,019 students identify as first gen, which means coming from a family where neither parent completed a four year degree.
“I think for the Appalachian region that we live in, West Virginia only has 23 to 27 percent of residents who have a four-year degree,” Bailey said.
Bailey said most first gen students are academically bright and receive scholarships, but many come from challenging situations.
“They are carrying a heavier load, besides just coming to school,” Bailey said. “They may be one of the primary caregivers of their family, whether they’re non-traditional students or not. We have a lot of students who grew up in foster care, or they are taking care of their grandparents, that kind of thing. So, not only do they have to navigate first gen college issues, they’re navigating a heavy load in life as well.”
Among Marshall’s many first gen support initiatives is a first generation directory, listing many faculty and staff who were first gen students.
“That way, if a student’s taking a chemistry class, they may see, oh my gosh, my chemistry professor, maybe he’s not so scary to go talk to, after all,” Bailey said.
Dr. Marybeth Beller is on that first gen faculty list. The political science professor got emotional remembering her single mother, working as an office secretary, acting upon her vow to ensure her three daughters went to college.
“I had to take out student loans, because there was nobody, and she paid every penny of those student loans herself on a secretary’s wages,” Beller said. “But she never, ever, ever let us know that we had the option not to go to college.”
Beller said today’s Marshall’s first gen students have something she somewhat lacked in school: a vast and varied support network.
“It is absolutely amazing to me to learn about the wealth of opportunities that we have in terms of student services, not just in tutoring, but in support services to help guide our students and show them the ropes,” Beller said. “That whole Week of Welcome, it is absolutely wonderful, and it brings all the students together so that before classes start, they get to meet one another and start to develop some of those social skills. They get tours of the building so that they don’t feel lost.”
Marshall first gen Junior Emma Johnson said both her parents went into blue collar jobs right out of high school. She said she came in as a freshman, wide-eyed and an empty book.
“And it was like, you know, let’s write the story,” Johnson said. “Socialization was different. I came in and I was around so many people who seemed like they already have the next, you know, five to 10 years planned out. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, that couldn’t be me. I have no idea entirely what I want to do, where I want to end up in life.”
Taking advantage of Marshall’s support network, Johnson flourished, academically and socially. She’s now the News Director at the campus’s award winning radio station. And she’s bonded with two of her professors who also hail from her hometown of Logan, West Virginia.
“Having their guidance, and they’re always pushing me to be my best,” Johnson said. “They always tell me, no matter where you come from, no matter what you went through, you can still do this.”
More than half of Marshall’s student body is first gen? Dr. Beller says that statistic is both shocking and pleasing.
“I find that statistic shocking,” Beller said. “I also think it’s really good because it means we’re really good at recruiting and showing high school students and their parents that this is an opportunity that they can actually take advantage of.”
Back at the Memorial Student Center, Jaime Wheeler has nothing but thanks and praise for her collegiate acclamation.
“It’s important that Marshall has a support system,” Wheeler said. “They have worked as hard as they possibly can to provide a happy and fulfilling experience for all of the first gen students here.”
A support system that’s led by an inspiring marshall staff member, also listed in the first gen directory, school President Brad Smith.
