Think back to how you felt as you prepared to move to the College. Summer is almost over. School is about to begin, and you make sure everything is packed and ready for move-in. You say farewell to your parents. On campus, everyone is a stranger. But for first-generation students, like me, this process comes with added challenges. Our parents are just as new to the college experience as we are. We’re tasked with navigating a completely unfamiliar environment while seeking answers independently.
For many students whose parents did not attend college, pre-orientation allows them to arrive on campus earlier and learn more about the College as an institution. It offers a chance to meet new people, build relationships with others from similar backgrounds, and get a sense of campus culture before the semester officially starts. During pre-orientation, Williams Firsts, the College’s community of students, faculty, and staff who are the first in their families to go to college, can foster a sense of belonging on campus. The pre-orientation program at the College does a phenomenal job creating an environment for first-year students to build a social network and join the College community.
However, while the program is effective at helping students transition socially, it doesn’t help them transition academically. There aren’t enough resources for Firsts to allow them to quickly adjust to the academic culture of the College.
During pre-orientation, students build a meaningful sense of community around campus. Yet once classes officially begin, this shared community support quickly fades as students move to different academic paths. Divergent majors and aspirations can limit Firsts’ ability to rely on peer-to-peer guidance. Assignments pile up almost immediately, and once again, many first-generation students are left to navigate everything on their own. The sense of support fostered during and after pre-orientation does not translate into the classroom.
Professors generally do not and realistically cannot adjust their teaching styles based on their students’ backgrounds. They assume all students arrive equally prepared to meet the expectations outlined in the syllabus. This is not a criticism of faculty at the College. Yet, it is the College’s responsibility to address the major problem, which stems from the lack of resources in place to help students who are unfamiliar with writing research papers, approaching problem sets, or managing the academic workload during their first semesters.
For Firsts, the lack of institutional support is detrimental to the learning process because we cannot rely on our families to help us navigate college academics. Often, families of First students simply do not have experience navigating collegiate academic environments, office hours, or teaching assistant sessions. Even spaces like office hours and TA meetings often assume that students already know how to ask the “right” questions or advocate for themselves academically. These spaces rarely account for the fact that some students are first-generation and are still learning how these systems work.
While resources like the Math and Science Resource Center and the Writing Center can be helpful, they do not address the root cause of these issues. These resources do not teach students how to approach classroom materials in the first place. There is no centralized resource for First students to learn how to engage with class material, plan ahead for major assignments, or understand how much time they should realistically spend working outside of class.
One meaningful way the College or the Firsts Student Union, a group of annually elected Firsts students, can address the lack of resources to ease first-generation students’ transition to academic life is by expanding mentorship. During pre-orientation, having access to upperclassmen mentors was incredibly helpful. They answered practical questions about campus life that orientation speakers couldn’t fully explain. Personal experiences are incredibly valuable, and extending this mentorship for First students beyond pre-orientation could make a significant difference in how Firsts approach academics and campus life.
A structured one-on-one mentorship program for first-years would help ease this difficult transition into academic life. Meeting regularly with an upperclass mentor who has already navigated the College as a first-generation student would provide tremendous guidance and reassurance for first-year students. These mentors could help demystify academic expectations, share strategies for managing workload, and normalize the uncertainty many first-generation students feel.
The College’s First program has already experienced success in fostering social belonging. With a stronger emphasis on sustained mentorship, especially for first-year students, it could become even more effective in supporting first-generation students in their academic pursuits. A sense of belonging shouldn’t end after pre-orientation — it should extend into the classroom, the career advising process, and the academic journey that follows.
Alex Chen ’28 is from Brooklyn, N.Y.
