2008 Woodie Awards
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First-generation college students adjust to Brown
Irene Chen
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Campus News
Karen Pridham P'10 had no qualms about her daughter Julie's decision to go to college, but helping her daughter through a process she was unfamiliar with was overwhelming. Julie Pridham '10 came to Brown last year as a first-generation college student.
"As a parent, we don't have words of wisdom to encourage our students to feel free to talk to professors openly ... because we don't have anything to relate to," Karen Pridham said. "We can't guide them in their first adventures out in the college world."
Julie Pridham thought she had adjusted well her freshman year, until she met with a group of first-generation students and realized she needed this community of support.
"I never knew there were other people who felt the same way that I do," Julie Pridham said. "It was amazing to me, thinking that I had it all figured out and I can do it on my own, and then realizing that there are really people who are in a similar boat who I can relate to on this level."
Because of her experiences adjusting to life at Brown, Julie is now helping to organize the First Generation Mentoring Group, or First-Gen, which hosted a reception for first-generation college students and their families during Parents Weekend. Kisa Takesue '88, associate dean of student life, said she thinks this was the first event of its kind held during Parents Weekend.
Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the College for fellowships and pre-law, is among the group's faculty and administration advisers, and she has been informally advising first-generation students for some time. Dunleavy says the percentage of first-generation college students has been growing. First-generation college students represented 15 percent of the applicants admitted into the class of 2011. That number was up from 12 percent in the class of 2010.
"I think that the culture at Brown is that a lot of the parents and students are fairly well-educated, and students have their families to rely on as a resource," Dunleavy said. "(Students have) this whole other level of resources and support as they move through their college education at Brown. ... Students who are the first in their family to go to college don't have that whole other layer of support outside of the University."
"As a parent, we don't have words of wisdom to encourage our students to feel free to talk to professors openly ... because we don't have anything to relate to," Karen Pridham said. "We can't guide them in their first adventures out in the college world."
Julie Pridham thought she had adjusted well her freshman year, until she met with a group of first-generation students and realized she needed this community of support.
"I never knew there were other people who felt the same way that I do," Julie Pridham said. "It was amazing to me, thinking that I had it all figured out and I can do it on my own, and then realizing that there are really people who are in a similar boat who I can relate to on this level."
Because of her experiences adjusting to life at Brown, Julie is now helping to organize the First Generation Mentoring Group, or First-Gen, which hosted a reception for first-generation college students and their families during Parents Weekend. Kisa Takesue '88, associate dean of student life, said she thinks this was the first event of its kind held during Parents Weekend.
Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the College for fellowships and pre-law, is among the group's faculty and administration advisers, and she has been informally advising first-generation students for some time. Dunleavy says the percentage of first-generation college students has been growing. First-generation college students represented 15 percent of the applicants admitted into the class of 2011. That number was up from 12 percent in the class of 2010.
"I think that the culture at Brown is that a lot of the parents and students are fairly well-educated, and students have their families to rely on as a resource," Dunleavy said. "(Students have) this whole other level of resources and support as they move through their college education at Brown. ... Students who are the first in their family to go to college don't have that whole other layer of support outside of the University."