Events will celebrate first-generation students

The University of North Georgia (UNG) will celebrate its first-generation college students with events Nov. 8-12 to coincide with the Nov. 8 national First-Generation College Celebration.

Celebrations on all five UNG campuses will honor these students. Dates and locations for the events are:

• Nov. 8: Student Resource Center Room 522, Oconee Campus, noon
• Nov. 9: Dining Hall, Dahlonega Campus, 5 p.m.
• Nov. 10: Room 146, Blue Ridge Campus, 11:30 a.m.
• Nov. 10: Room 125, Cumming Campus, noon
• Nov. 12: Robinson Ballroom in Student Center, Gainesville Campus, noon

The week will begin with an induction ceremony for Alpha Alpha Alpha, also called Tri-Alpha, a national honor society for first-generation college students. The ceremony is set for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in Room 108 of the Performing Arts Center on UNG's Gainesville Campus. Ten students, three faculty and staff, and two alumni will be inducted.  

Jennifer Herring, special assistant to the vice president of UNG's Gainesville Campus, was a first-generation college student. As she organizes the celebrations, Herring understands how easily self-doubt can creep in for these students.

"The events let students know there are other students just like them on their college campus. They're probably sitting in the same room and don't realize it," Herring said. "We want these students to ask questions and get information without feeling like they're impostors."

UNG will invite Upward Bound students to the Blue Ridge and Gainesville celebrations. UNG's Upward Bound Program helps underrepresented and underserved students prepare for, enroll, and graduate from institutions of higher learning. It serves students from Gilmer High School and Johnson High School.

While the celebrations are set for just one week, UNG maintains a year-round commitment to first-generation students. The Gen 1 mentoring program, now in its second year, matches 48 first-generation students with a faculty or staff mentor.

Manida Sana, a sophomore from Cornelia, Georgia, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, was paired with Alice Bae-Hansard, an academic advisor. Sana will be one of the Tri-Alpha inductees this fall.

Bae-Hansard's parents completed college in South Korea, but she was the first in her family to earn a degree in the United States. She understands the challenges students face when their parents cannot answer questions about college because they didn't experience what their children are now doing. She reminds Sana and others that a quarter of UNG students are first-generation college students.

"I always try to normalize the experience for them," she said. "That makes them feel like they are not alone."

Sana said Bae-Hansard's guidance has been valuable in her adjustment to college.

"I'm not the only one who's lost and confused. We have a safe place to ask questions and not be embarrassed about it," Sana said. "I have someone I can look up to. She's encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and ask my professors for help and go to the Tutoring Center."