First Gen Special Issue – Tale of Tenacity

Being a first-generation student feels like juggling without ever having learned the act. No matter how hard you try to keep everything in motion, there’s a constant fear of dropping the ball. Being a first-generation student feels like speaking a language no one has taught you. Every conversation is a lesson, but misunderstanding is a…

By Troy Murphy “They made a mistake.”  “There were fewer people that applied this year.”  “They lowered their standards.”  “I just got lucky.”  “I think someone was just doing a favor for my high school counselor or teacher.”   For some students – and more first generation students than almost any other demographic – the very…

By Amalia Jamaludin My journey as a SURE researcher began with an exciting opportunity: meeting with my professor, Dr. Antonious Koumpias, to discuss potential research projects. I didn’t have a specific idea in mind, but I was eager to take on a challenge and dive deeper into my fields of study, software engineering and economics.…

By Gabriella Scarlatta I wasn’t meant to go to university. My parents’ plan was for me to work in my mother’s panetteria store, eventually take it over, and spend the rest of my life there and in our hometown.  But I had a different path in mind. Since my first year in middle school, I…

By Hala Alazzawi There are a wide range of considerations to be made when supporting first generation students with disabilities. For most of these students navigating campus life on their own can feel daunting, particularly in the first years of their academic journeys in higher education. To empower first gen students with disabilities, faculty may…

Associate Professor Nick Iannarino and English Major Madeline Gatteri recently worked together on a research project for UM-Dearborn’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). The title of their project is ”Seriously Funny: The role of humor in illness narratives.”  Both Iannarino and Gatteri are first generation college students, and the Wolverzine talked to them about their…

By Lewa Qayed Superhero Name: Our Big Brother Origin Story: In a family of eight, the oldest sibling took on the role of a hero from the very start. He was the first in the family to attend college, taking on the challenge not just for himself but for all his siblings. His late-night study…

By Maureen Linker My journey from the wild, wacky streets of Brooklyn in the 1980s and 90s to the Administration Building at the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 2024 is a story of discovery, mentorship, and the transformative power of education. As a first-generation college student, my path was neither linear nor easy. It was paved…

By Heba Sayed Navigating college—and life in general—can be incredibly lonely, especially as a first-generation student. Without family or friends who truly understood the college experience, adapting to this new world often felt like a stressful journey, one I had to tackle alone. In high school, I hardly knew where to start with college applications,…

By Marty Hershock Finally, the application was ready to submit. I was really applying to the History PhD program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I was really doing this! My path to this day had been a long and circuitous one. As the first member of my working-class Detroit family to attend…

By Zahraa Rida Origin Story: The Wisdom Weaver, also known as “Mama,” was once a humble but fierce advocate for her children’s education, always helping them with homework and teaching them life lessons beyond the classroom. One evening, after an exhausting day of balancing work, family, and studies, she was reading a bedtime story when…

By William DeGenaro and Michael T. MacDonald Professors of Composition and Rhetoric at UM-Dearborn There is no single articulation of what we talk about when we talk about first-gen students. There is also no single way that colleges and universities reach out to this population. Some institutions create student life programs, some build academic support structures,…

By Jorge Gonzalez del PozoProfessor of Spanish Soy estudiante de primera generación, mis padres no pudieron terminar ni siquiera la primaria. Hace unos años vinieron a visitarme y coincidió con que yo daba el discurso de los profesores en la ceremonia de graduación. Nunca se me olvidará la mirada de mi madre ni su expresión…

By Mazen Zeidan I remember a time when I was younger when college education was seen as almost being essential to finding a great job. If you got a college degree, you were basically all set to get a good job and be successful. Yet over the years, I’ve noticed things change in the sense…

By Latresa Rice     The elderly woman burst into tears, then embraced Helen and said, “Thank you. What are you here in the hospital for?”     “My sister just gave birth to my niece!” Helen replied with great joy.     “Oh that’s beautiful. How old is your sister?” asked the elderly lady.    …

By Valeria Garcia-Lopez Valeria Garcia-Lopez is a first-generation student who created this piece of artwork for her ART 210 course which tasked her to create a poster for the Writing Center on campus. She had the following to say about the piece;  “The idea behind this piece was to remind students who visit the Writing…

By Autumm Caines I had no idea that I was a “first generation college student”. Or, for that matter, that there was such a term used to describe a group of people. I was several years into my first full-time professional staff appointment in higher education when I discovered all of this. If I am…

By Rayyan Ateequi I decided to create the education hero Brainstormer. The Brainstormer is a high school teacher who teaches students the importance of their futures. He emphasizes that everybody only lives once, and his IQ exceeds any other recorded IQ. The Brainstormer is noticed for being the smartest man in history but chooses to…