Being a First Generation Student Leader

di Giorgio Russo

My identity as a first generation college student is something that fills me with pride, but that was not always the case.

Everyday I reflect upon how blessed I am to have the opportunity to attend such a prestigious university (I mean, it’s Harvard!).  But the difficulties of being a first generation college student have made my experience, at times, pretty challenging.  Between my academic responsibilities at school and my financial struggles back home, my college experience has sometimes seemed to be a never-ending challenge. The social and financial hurdles first generation college students must overcome can make the college experience at Harvard an arduous trek.

While first generation students face these difficulties, recently many have rallied around this identity, swaying the feelings of negativity to ones of empowerment.  The first gen identity is now associated with positive attributes like resilience, strength, determination, and courage.

Two years ago, Harvard first generation students rallied together to form the Harvard First Generation Student Union (FGSU). The group’s mission is to build a first generation community at Harvard, ease the transition for first-generation, first-year students, and advocate for institutional reform to better the first generation Harvard experience. Since then, Harvard has seen the first generation community blossom into a thriving group on campus that represents roughly 15% of the student body.

Da Harvard College Blog