December 6, 2023 • 37 mins
Join Julie Carballo, the assistant dean of students for first-generation and military affiliated initiatives at North Central College, and me for an enlightening journey as we explore the Cardinal First program. Julie's not just an advocate, but a beacon of hope for first-generation college students, guiding them through the labyrinth of higher education with her Cardinal First program. Garner valuable insights from Julie's journey and learn about the unique tools and community-building initiatives Cardinal First offers to empower these trailblazing first-generation students.
We'll tackle the power of storytelling and networking. We'll discuss how sharing experiences can be a catalyst for change and a source of inspiration for others. We'll also highlight the invaluable role of mentorship and strong faculty relationships in shaping these students' college journey. The power of a shared narrative, the strength in community, and the encouragement of mentors can truly have a profound impact on a first-generation student's college experience.
Take this opportunity to learn from Julie, connect with her on LinkedIn, and explore her program, Cardinal First. This episode is your ticket to understanding the challenges, triumphs, and incredible resilience of first-generation college students. Join us on this journey and let's empower change together.
Cardinal First www.noctrl.edu/cardinal-first
Cardinal First Facebook @NorthCentralCollege.CardinalFirst
Cardinal First Instagram @firstgencardinals
Julie's Bio
Julie is an educator, leader and lifelong learner with experience teaching and spearheading initiatives for underrepresented students at the high school and college level. She is the founding director of Cardinal First, a cohort-based program that strategically provides community and connection for first-generation students from enrollment through completion. She’s been working with first-generation college students at North Central College since 2010.
Please help others find this podcast by rating and reviewing wherever you listen!
You can find me at https://www.firstgenfm.com/ and on LinkedIn. My email is jen@firstgenfm.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hi and welcome to First Gen FM, a podcast for
educators who want to learn moreabout serving, working with,
celebrating first generationcollege bound and college
students.
Welcome, julie, I am so excitedyou are here and I hope you're
excited to listen to JulieCarballo today, who is the
(00:36):
assistant dean of students forfirst generation and military
affiliated initiatives at NorthCentral College, which, if
you're asking, is in Naperville,illinois.
And today, julie and I aregoing to talk about empowering
and engaging first generationcollege students to inspire
first generation college boundstudents.
(00:56):
Both of us have done differentkinds of programs and so I'm
like, oh, julie, I want to stealeverything you're going to tell
me and we're going to go andlearn.
So get ready, get listening,here we go.
So, julie, you know, my firstquestion is going to be what
sparked you to get into highered and, specifically, to work in
first gen initiatives?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Hi Jen, I'm so happy to be here and talk about my
favorite topic first generationcollege students and initiatives
.
So, briefly, my background Istarted teaching and coaching at
the high school level, so theearly part of my career I was at
Argo High School near MidwayAirport in Chicago and started
(01:42):
there, and then, after I had mysecond child, decided I wanted
to work more part time and ifyou're at the high school they
would let me do that.
But I still needed to go everyday.
So I looked into some collegesand have been at North Central
College since 1997 where Istarted teaching in the
education department there.
So I did not have a plannedpath into higher ed.
(02:07):
It kind of was a winding path,but I haven't left, never looked
back.
I loved very much working atthe high school level and it
greatly informs my work that Ido in higher education, knowing
the journey that the studentsare on and the transition from
high school to college.
So, as a half time facultymember in the education
(02:29):
department, our college receiveda grant from Council for
Independent Colleges to fund anew first gen initiative in 2008
and we launched the Teach Firstprogram at that time for our
first gen education majors.
And two years later I becamethe director of that.
(02:50):
So I was still a half timefaculty member and then also the
director of Teach First.
And over the next four yearsthat program grew and expanded
and, as students, sometimesstudents would change their
major away from education butstill want to be a part of the
program because of the communitythat it provided and the
connection.
So in 2014, north CentralCollege created a new full time
(03:13):
position, which was the directorof first generation programs,
and asked me if I would moveinto that position and create a
first gen program for all of thestudents on our campus.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And you, because if anybody had heard us, like the
first 20 minutes, while weweren't recording, we were just
all talking about creating andhow we love to create programs
from scratch, so that was rightup your alley.
So did you jump at it and say,like I really like this group
working with the first genstudents, I'm in.
Or were you like I don't know?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I was very excited by the opportunity because I had
seen the need and as students,like I said, would change their
major away from education and wedidn't have anything similar
for them on campus.
So I was very excited at theopportunity.
So the first year we pilotedCardinal First was the name that
we came up with after ourmascot and we piloted a program
(04:09):
called Cardinal First Fridaysfor our first year, first gen
students, and then the programhas now grown its cohort based
programming from a student'sfirst day at North Central
through graduation.
So we have Cardinal FirstFridays for first years,
cardinal First Merceppers,cardinal First penultimate for
juniors and Cardinal First homestretch for seniors.
And those are monthly one hourworkshops offered at multiple
(04:31):
times.
So we provide content andconnections and connection to
faculty to students that aredevelopmentally meet where they
are on their college journey.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, that's great.
Now can students move betweenthem if they see something
that's like, or they have tostay in their lane in their year
?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
They generally stay in their and we call them by
their graduation year.
So the 2027s, the 2026s, the2025s so they generally stay
with that cohort because then,for example, the current 2025s
we're working with them onmaking sure that they arrange a
summer experience this summerand internship or research
(05:11):
that's going to build theirskills and resume and set them
up for post graduation.
And then, with the 2024s, we'reworking with them on finding
community and connection aftergraduation and getting set up
for what you're going to doafter graduation.
With the 2027s, they'repreparing for your first final
exams and so each we try toprovide them with the content
(05:34):
and the information that wethink is relevant to where they
are at that point in the journey.
We do have Cardinal 1st, 3rdFridays.
That's open to all first genstudents and those are more
community building, stressrelieving types of types.
I think we're doing rockpainting at the next one,
something like that.
Do they have to bring their ownrocks?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
No, we have the rocks All right.
This, this sounds amazing.
We may have to do a wholenother podcast on just all of
the activities that you do.
So it sounds to me like Havingthe first-gen college students
work and inspire thecollege-bound first-gen students
(06:12):
works perfectly with yourbackground, because not only did
you work with the students andsee what they were going through
, but you were a teacher, so youalso know what the teachers can
and cannot do, what the schoolcounselors can and cannot do,
especially at larger publicschools.
So what kinds of things are youdoing with the first-gen
students to have them speak tothe college-bound students about
(06:35):
?
You know why they might want togo to college, how they pay for
college, all of the questionsthat the high school students
have.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So we one thing that we do is we have visit days for
first-generation collegestudents and we are seeing an
increase and they can either setthose up individually or their
high school or junior highgroups can bring a group of
students.
But when we have those groupsor individuals visit, we bring
(07:03):
in some of our first-genstudents to share a little bit
of their wisdom and experience,and when possible, from that
exact high school.
So we'll try to get thosestudents to and they'll have
them give a shout out to one oftheir favorite high school
teachers or something like that.
But we it's powerful for thecurrent high school students to
see students who came from theirhigh school or who look like
(07:27):
them and to say this is what Iexperienced in high school or
this is how I chose this schooland why I chose it.
And we have different questionsthat will ask them about like
what do you know now that youwish you knew when you were a
sophomore in high school?
Or what's one struggle?
Another common question iswhat's the struggle you faced
(07:48):
during your first year ofcollege and how did you work
through it to normalize that?
You know struggle as part ofgrowth and doesn't mean you
don't belong or that you're notgoing to be successful.
So we'll have that as well.
We also talk a lot aboutsuccessful students ask for help
.
And how did you ask for help?
And you know, as a collegestudent.
(08:09):
So we have different topicslike that, so we use them as
panelists at those.
We also try to make sure thatwe have first-gen students
working in our admissions officeand so if a student identifies
that they're first-gen, thenthey'll get a tour guide who is
also first-gen to be able totalk about that experience.
We've also done with some ofthe high school students, with
(08:34):
some of the high school highschools groups, an initiative we
called first-gen collegeconversations, so first-gen
college conversations, and wehad different topics.
So we did these by zoom.
For two years we partnered witha few different high schools and
then many of those high schoolsare the ones that now bring
(08:55):
their groups to campus.
But we had five first-genstudent panelists, so five of
our current students serving aspanelists.
We let them.
You know we again we tried toget students from the same high
school or from nearby highschools and then we had, we
prepared them with questions inadvance and said give some
thought to these questions andlet me know which three you'd
like to answer on the panel.
(09:16):
And then again, the topics thatwe used were we did one for
college seniors what to know nowto be ready for I'm sorry for
high school seniors, for highschool seniors, what to know now
to be ready for what's next.
We did one on successful onlinelearning.
We did one on successfulstudents asked for help, one on
(09:39):
what didn't go right my firstyear and how I worked through it
, and again, what I know nowthat I wish I knew in high
school.
So we offered each high schoolto choose two of those topics
that they were interested in,and then we scheduled the events
about a month apart and so wezoomed into their classrooms or
sometimes they had students inthe auditorium and we did that.
(10:00):
And then, since then, some ofthe more local high schools have
invited us to bring a group ofstudents out to talk to their
first-gen students.
And last month, or earlier thismonth, on first-gen celebration
day, that evening we went outto a more rural high school
about 45 minutes from where weare, and I brought three
students with me to speak totheir students and families who
(10:24):
will be first generation collegestudents, and it's just very
powerful to watch, to listen tomy students realize they are now
success experts, collegesuccess experts that they can
talk to other first-gen studentsthat are now a year, a year and
a half away from completingtheir degree.
And then it's also.
(10:45):
You can see the reassurance andinspiration on the faces of the
high school students and theirfamilies as they listen to the
students talk about theirexperience.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's.
You know, sometimes they'resaying exactly what an
admissions counselor would sayor what the school counselor or
teacher would say, but when thestudents hear it from their
peers it's like, oh, that mustbe true.
And they just they pay moreattention to it.
I so I was.
I was lucky enough.
We received a donation from atNortheastern to take students on
(11:23):
.
I don't even know what to callit.
It was an alternative springbreak where I would take three
or four students and we wouldvisit high schools in an area we
went to.
It's funny, I'm like oh yeah, Itook students to Las Vegas for
spring break, but we did, and wewould travel to high schools
and up-ward bound programs andthe students would tell their
(11:43):
stories.
And I remember one time we wentto a school and one of my
students was telling his storyabout how he was suspended in
eighth grade for fighting andhow he got suspended.
And I didn't know it at thetime, but the teacher came up to
me afterwards and said youprobably didn't see it, but
(12:04):
there's two boys in the back whowere suspended.
And as soon as your studentsstarted to tell their story,
they just perked up and they,she said you could see on their
faces that they were now like Ican still go to college, like,
even though I have this mark,like the suspension, I can still
go to college.
And she said after that theirheads were up, they were fully
(12:25):
engaged and there's no otherperson who can do that except a
current student telling theirstory.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Absolutely.
The stories are so powerful andjust having it's really
beneficial for our current firstgen college students to reflect
on their experiences and whatthey've learned, and you can see
in them like I didn't reallythink about this, but I have
really grown because of that andthe struggle that almost made
(12:51):
me wanna stop is what got me onthis other path or got me
connected to this person, and soit's a really good reflection
exercise for the currentstudents to give some thought to
it, which is why we, when we dothese provide, we provide them
with the questions in advance tothink a little bit about it.
And after we did this, thisworkshop series with the partner
(13:14):
high schools, we then surveyedour own students and their
feedback was very, very positiveon how they reflected in a
different way on their collegejourney than they had.
And when I just came back onNovember 8th, that evening, when
we were doing the 45 minutedrive back to campus, the
students were so excited andsaid like we should be doing
(13:35):
this, we should be doing more ofthis and you know what else we
should talk about, and thiswould have been helpful for my
parents to hear and things likethat.
So there's definitely value forboth the current college
students and for the high schoolstudents and the families.
But yeah, value for growth andinspiration.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's inspirational, but I think
it's also transformational forthe students that opportunity to
reflect, because so often atleast in my experiences with my
students they're so busy lookingahead, like to getting to the
top of the mountain, that theydon't turn around to see the
view of how far they've come andall the things that they've
(14:20):
learned, like especially thatasking for help behavior,
because they're so independent,like they have worked to get
where they are and they havedone it and they feel like
they've done it solo.
But when they get to collegethey can't do that.
And then when they reflect onthat it's like, oh, wait a
minute.
Like I'm surrounded by thesupport, like wait a minute, and
(14:42):
I've learned to ask for that.
I mean, have you found that aswell?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And last year in the fall, ourseniors, you know we were saying
what sort of programming wouldbe helpful for you this year and
a few of them said how are wegonna navigate after we graduate
and don't have these kinds ofsupports around us?
So we partnered with ourwellness center and offered a
(15:08):
workshop on finding communityand connection after college,
Because it is a big that is abig change too, and again and
now we're trying to have alumnishare their experiences doing
that as well.
So we have one of our first genprofessors who is amazing.
Dr Donabeev Smith always talksabout with our students, about
(15:30):
you should have one hand forwardbeing mentored by one or two
people and you should have onehand back bringing two people up
behind you on the journey,which I think is a great visual
and reminder that you know I canbe inspiring other people and I
need to soak up the mentoringand wisdom that's available to
(15:50):
me from the people that are ayear or two ahead of me on the
journey.
And we've been talking more nowwith our current students about
, you know, building theirnetwork on campus with peers and
with, you know, faculty andstaff, and in fact, that's one
of the other things that we doto empower our first gen
students to reflect on theirstory is we've done an art
(16:11):
display that we just did ourthird one this year.
So we did the first one in 2019and we invited all first gen
juniors and seniors to share apiece of advice that they have
for younger first generationcollege students or people
behind them on the journey, andwe used it with our.
We take those posters out tothe high school presentations as
(16:32):
well, but so we had 60 of ourcurrent first gen students.
They all were photographed andthen we put up these posters
with their one or two pieces ofadvice, and it's very, very
powerful to hear what they eachhave to say.
And again, you could seesomebody who you know.
Somebody's message wouldresonate with almost every
student on campus.
(16:53):
And then in 2019, 2021, we didone on what's one or two things
you learned about life from yourfamily or supporters, and so we
we shared that, and that wasover family weekend, and that
display was up over familyweekend.
It was amazing.
Again, we invite the juniorsand seniors to participate in
that.
And then the one we did thisyear was on that networking
(17:16):
theme share about an experienceor relationship that opened a
door to a new understanding ornew experience, and so it was
very powerful of how thisprofessor, you know mentioned
this to me, or this person thatI work with did this.
There was lots of shout outs tofaculty and staff who connected
(17:37):
the student to a newopportunity or a new way of
understanding things.
So then, that display is stillup, it's up for the month of
November on campus, aroundcampus, and many displays
elsewhere.
So, again, it brings awarenessto the first gen identity and
then just to their wisdom thatthey've now gained along the way
(17:59):
, and hopefully, for the firstgen students behind them on the
journey, the importance ofbuilding relationships across
campus while you're here, causewe do have we have a significant
commuter population.
I mean more than half of themon campus, but many students are
I'm just here to get my degreeand I work, you know, and so we
really try to work with them on,you know, improving their
(18:21):
experience and also buildingtheir network and knowing how
that, you know, gettingconnected to faculty, as we all
know, connects you to the socialcapital that you wouldn't
otherwise be connected to, andgetting connected to peers who
are a year or two ahead of youon the journey.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So that's one of the other ways.
Yeah, I mean, it gives you tipsand tricks when you know the
faculty member and you sit andtalk with them.
And yeah, a couple of storiesbring to mind.
I remember I had a studentnamed Joe and I had required the
students as part of theirscholarship you have to go talk
to a professor, like that's partof your scholarship, and I
would give them some here's somequestions you can ask, so that
(19:02):
they wouldn't be like I don'tknow what to talk about.
And I remember him doing it andcoming back to hand in the
sheet and he's like they werelike a real person.
I was like, yes, they are, andhe formed a relationship with
that particular professor andthat was so much fun to see.
And I had another student whowent to a panel discussion of
(19:24):
people who were in engineeringand she was studying chemical
engineering and she reallywanted to talk to one of the
panelists who was doingsomething that she was really
interested in, but she had noidea what to say.
So she was brilliant.
She went up and said I'm sorryI really don't have time to talk
to you right now, but do youhave a business card that I
could contact you later withsome questions and I was like
(19:48):
what a great line.
Like you don't have to come upwith things for the moment, but
you make the connection, you getthe card and then you can think
about what you wanna say.
I'm like, wow, that is so smart.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That is very smart.
We have a first gen alum whonow works in Major League
Baseball, but he tells the storyof he went to a panel that was
happening on campus that wasorganized by professors in his
major and he debated whether hehad time for that or if he
should go study or do work.
But he went that day, made aconnection, got a summer
internship that ended up leadinghim to his dream job in Major
(20:24):
League Baseball.
It is what I meant to say.
I'm not sure if that's what Isaid MLB, but so again, saying
yes to the opportunities thatare available on campus too is
another important thing, butbecause I mean it's just like
information and connection thatyou wouldn't have otherwise.
So that's another one of ourmantras is like say yes or at
(20:49):
least think throughopportunities that you might not
have again that are availableon campus to build your network
with other people and getconnected to other first gen
champions.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
On campus, yeah, and I think, talking through, how do
you make that decision aboutwhat might be particularly
unique to the campus experience,so that you know to say yes,
because it might not be anopportunity that will come to
you once you leave the college?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yes, we try to stress that in our communications too,
saying this won't happen again.
This is one and only time, likewe just did LinkedIn photos as
part of our first gencelebration week, and we say
this is the one and only timewe're doing this this year so
that because inevitably,somebody will be asking about it
(21:39):
a couple weeks later which is Iwould have been that person at
age 21 too like, well, I didn'tneed one then.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Right, well, I would have said, but there's no
LinkedIn now.
When I was a senior, we neverhad to worry about those things
like headshots and LinkedIn andsocial media.
So that's very true.
That's very true, goodness,goodness.
So let me ask you this what areyou seeing in your new students
?
Maybe that's different fromprevious years, you know,
(22:09):
because I think the studentscoming in now had an
interruption in their formativeyears of setting a base for
learning in high school.
I think these students who arefirst years now were 10th
graders.
Have you noticed anydifferences across the years in
terms of what they need or whatthey're asking for, or maybe
(22:32):
what they're even not asking for?
Right?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
We try to anticipate their needs, because you can't
know what you need becauseyou're not familiar with the
higher ed landscape.
We are trying to include ineach one of the workshops some
study strategies Study smarter,not harder.
Yes, study smarter, not harder,With some specific things
(22:56):
Within our program, we haveleaders.
We have a leadership team forCardinal First with 37 student
leaders this year.
They work with the first years.
They have a group of firstyears assigned to them.
We have them prepare.
What are two ways that youmanage your procrastination?
What are two ways that youmanage your time?
(23:19):
Our workshops are always thefirst Friday of the month.
This Friday we'll be having ourDecember Cardinal First Friday
workshops.
We're going to be talking aboutpreparing for your first final
exams.
We have the leaders sharing.
This is what I do differently inmy life the week before final
exams.
This is what I do the weekbefore final exams.
This is what I do the week offinal exams From everything from
(23:42):
self-care to using a GPAcalculator to decide where you
should put your most energy andthings like that Listening very
carefully to what the incidentalinformation is shared by the
professor the week leading up tothe exam and things like that.
(24:03):
That's our leaders reflectingon their own experiences and
what they do that works.
We were preparing with themright before Thanksgiving.
I said just think back to yourfirst year, first semester.
This is their first time goinginto these final exams.
We do everything from here isthe final exam calendar and
making sure they know when theirexam time is, because it's not
(24:26):
always.
When I was faculty somebodywould always get tripped up on
that, even though things likethat the leaders reflecting on
that.
Then we'll also often do aGoogle doc and ask any first gen
junior and senior please add onhere what advice you have for
our first years taking theirfirst final exam, Again them
(24:46):
sharing their wisdom, and we'llcategorize those and send them
out to the first years.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I love that.
I'm totally stealing that forour next meeting that we have
this week.
I'm just going to say let'stalk a little bit about final
exams.
We talked about academicintegrity.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Sorry to interrupt.
We talked about academicintegrity and what that means
and how important it is.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat.
One other thing we do at thisworkshop in December is so it's
the last workshop of their firstsemesters we have thank you
cards that we print withCardinal First graphic on the
(25:22):
outside and on the inside itsays dear blank.
I've been asked to reflect onthree people at North Central
College who've made my firstsemester of college a better
experience.
You are one of those people.
Then we asked the student toadd one sentence about I really
enjoyed the way you taught yourclass, Thanks for helping me
with my financial aid, whateverit is.
(25:43):
Then they signed their name andwe have it class of 2027 typed
on the thank you note two.
Then we put those out in thefaculty mailbox and staff
mailboxes, which ends up beingthe week before finals.
It's just a little bit of windin everyone's sails for that.
Last week we talked to thestudents about that.
We do it for a few reasons.
We do it to reinforce people onthis campus who are doing good
(26:06):
work with first gen students,because it's human nature to
complain with what people want.
We do it because it's a goodattitude of gratitude as a self
care thing that makes improveshow you're feeling as well.
Then we think it's an importantpersonal and professional habit
to take the time to thankpeople and let people know we
(26:29):
have sentence starters that ifyou have writer's block, which
lots of people do, here's a fewthings you might want to include
.
We ask each of them to writethree and then we put them in
the mailboxes and we have themdo that again at the end of
their first year and then at theend of their sophomore year and
then by senior year we justhave thank you notes available
to them, right?
(26:49):
That don't say Cardinal firston them, so they are just
writing you know their own andhe's too over there.
Oh, that's fantastic.
I think it's the faculty andstaff and you know are really
are grateful to receive them.
And I remember one year I had astudent to say, like my coach
is gonna laugh if he gets this,and then he came back the next
week.
He's like he was so happy thatI said you know that I sent him
(27:09):
a thank you note.
So I think it just is, you know, building a culture of
Expressing gratitude and, again,creating more awareness of our
first-gen student experience andthat you made it.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You know you improve the students experience and
that's we wanted you to knowthat yeah, well, and that it's
Even though you may be directingit, and it's a first-gen
initiative that it really is theentire institution that's
supporting these students.
Yes, yes, yes, students to besuccessful.
And that sends that messagethat you're part of the whole.
Yes, exactly that is leadingour students to to graduation
(27:44):
and their career and you know,and, and all All the good things
that lie ahead for them.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yes, definitely, and several one of the faculty
members, but when she comes tospeak at our event, she's like I
carry these around with me.
These mean something to us.
You know, when we get one ofthese and others have them
hanging up in their Office andthings like that.
So it's, and I do thinkthroughout the students college
journey and professional career,it is an important habit to
develop to you know, thankssomeone who sit down and did an
(28:12):
informational interview with youor who mentored you on the job
or Wrote a letter recommendationfor you and things like that.
So again, teaching that as wellas part of that activity.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yeah, I love that, I love, I love everything that
you've shared about is it andand as we've been talking, it's
really Inspiration all around.
It's it's Alumni inspiring thestudents and sharing their
knowledge.
It's the students engaging withthe high school students, and I
love that expression of youknow Pulling two up and and sort
(28:44):
of holding on to one above.
That's such a good, such a goodvisual and it's it's just, it's
paying it forward and back andjust really beautiful kind of
stream of Gratitude and helpflowing, flowing back and forth.
It's like I people call themsoft skills, I call them power
skills, but it's like it's such,so powerful, these skills, that
(29:05):
they're getting from all ofthese things that you're sharing
with them and helping themlearn in college.
So, yeah, I'm stealing so muchof this.
I just want you, just just soyou know, julia, you know, take
it, take it some of these thingsto heart.
So, as as we're wrapping up here, because we've only got a few
minutes, because we just love tochat, what what advice would
you give for the folks who arelistening?
(29:26):
You know they're, they'reworking with the high school
students who are first-gen.
How can, how can maybe theywork with us to bring some of
our students to their schools ordo a zoom event.
What would just any generaladvice you have for them?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, I think, if there's a way they can keep in
touch with their high schoolsgraduates who have gone on, who
are first-gen college students,and let them come back and share
, either by zoom or we we havean event next week where we have
some of our alums just sendinga 90 second video in.
It's just because of logisticswith challenging, but I think
it's really, really powerfulwhen it when it's students from
(30:04):
there that own their own highschool.
So we have our very local highschools in Aprilville North.
We have a couple of their alumsthat our current students with
us go over there and speak everyyear and it's very, very
powerful.
So, I think, trying to stay intouch with your own alums and
then Finding, you know, currentfirst-gen college students who
would Resonate the with yourstudents to share their stories
(30:31):
about, and I like to talk aboutthe struggles.
I think that instead of Justyou know, I would choose a
student who struggled andovercame a few obstacles over a
student who has a 4.0 and is,you know, seemingly as navigated
effortlessly through theprocess, because I think that's
empowering, like you shared withthe Students who have had some
struggles, and when we have ourfirst-gen faculty and staff talk
(30:54):
to our students, we have themshare a struggle that they
experienced in undergrad.
So we have a faculty member whowas economically dismissed in
college and now has, you know, adoctorate and things like that.
So I think, similarly, findingand you're finding out at your
high school which one of yourteachers is Administrators were
first-generation collegestudents and having signs on
their doors or t-shirts so thatit's easily, they're easily
(31:17):
identifiable by the currentstudents, I think would be very
powerful.
Yeah, do you do any trainingwith this?
Speaker 1 (31:26):
This is going back a little bit.
Do you know any training withthe students about sharing their
stories and and Kind of whatnot to share, or that you know?
If you're going to talk aboutyour struggles, here's how you
might Now I'm not thinking likeput a positive spin on it,
because I totally agree with you.
Sharing struggles is important,but do you have to have those
(31:49):
trainings or conversations abouthow you'd go about doing that?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
We do provide some guidance in advance by way of an
email and we do one meetingwith them before they would talk
and we before they do theirfirst presentation.
But we always, when we talk tothe one about what's the
struggle you experienced, I'mgoing to say I always say it's a
two-part question what's thestruggle you experienced during
your first part of college and,more importantly, how did you
(32:13):
work through it?
So you're, and we typically workwith juniors and seniors
because the finish line is insight and they're feeling a
little bit more confident.
But some of them will even sayI did not think I was going to
graduate until I got to mysenior year, like I had doubts
about that the whole time.
And with this Teach Firstprogram that we still have with
the first gen education majors,we have, as they're doing their
(32:36):
student teaching, we have themcome back to a meeting and we
have them share what's one thingyou learned about yourself
during this experience, and it'syou know.
One of them said that I wasn'thorrible at teaching and that's
something I worried about forfour years, you know.
And so they just really sharecandidly and vulnerably about
their imposter syndrome andtheir fears and how they kept
(32:59):
moving forward despite thesefears that they, you know, were
navigating.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, yeah, oh.
I'm sure that's so powerful.
And now, what advice do youhave for folks like me who are
in the college working withfirst gen students?
How can we sort of support thatwonderful, you know, reaching
up to the alum and reaching backto the high school students?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Well, I think that you know partnering with your
office of admissions to be ableto have your students, you know,
being tour guides or speakingwhen you know it's a first gen
group that's coming to campus,or offering first gen visits for
high school groups and juniorhigh groups.
As much as your school can dothat, I think that that's really
powerful.
And then providing studentswith the opportunity to share a
(33:43):
little bit of their wisdom.
So it can be as simple as youknow, here's please complete
this Google form to tell ourfirst year first gen students to
welcome them to your college orto prepare for final exams.
We do something similar withmaking the most of your summer,
and we get advice from currentstudent, current first gen
students, and faculty and staffto share with first year
(34:06):
students about their firstsummer, and it can be everything
from take advantage of the freedance lessons you know in
downtown Chicago, or to just avariety of different things too,
so that people are sharing.
This is what worked for me.
This is what I wish I wouldhave done, because that's
another thing that we focus on.
You have three summers For mostpeople.
You have three summers incollege, three or four summers
(34:28):
in college, and how to make themost of them, so that you're
refreshed and moving yourselfforward toward where you want to
be when you graduate.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Right, keeping your brain on, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Or I'll tell them, like even over, I'll say you
have a 27 day winter breakcoming up.
Choose for those days to dosome of these things you know
relax and work and do the otherthings, but choose for those
days to consider some of thesethings.
So that, and same with thesummer break, I always count the
number of days of summer break.
I spend them.
A communication where, at thehalfway point of summer break,
(35:02):
some things you might want toput on your to-do list before
the end of summer.
So just being mindful of makingthe most of time when you have
a little bit more time duringthose breaks, but theoretically
you have a little bit more time.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah, and it makes it not overwhelming.
It's like we're not saying youhave 27 days, take 26 days and
do all these things.
It's like, no, take five daysRight.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Right Great.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Well, if somebody wanted to reach out to you and
they say, oh, like I love yourprograms, can I get a list of,
like some of your first, youknow, cardinal first year
programs, how would they reachout to you?
How would they find you?
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I am on LinkedIn, so they are definitely welcome to
connect with me on LinkedIn.
And we also have a prettyrobust website about Cardinal
first.
So that's at wwwnoctrledu slashCardinal-first, but you can
just search the college'swebsite for that.
(35:59):
We have quite a bit ofinformation on there.
And our Cardinal first socialmedia.
We have North Central CollegeCardinal first on Facebook and
then our Instagram is at firstgen Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Okay, all right, so now.
Now you know where to find them.
Thank you, julie, for beingwith me and sharing all these
things.
I learned a lot.
I took copious notes, so I'llbe experimenting with all these
things, but it was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Thank you so much.
It was my pleasure.
Thank you, jen, and thanks forthis great podcast, so we all
can continue to share ideas andkeep moving first gen forward.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yes, my pleasure.
And if you would like to giveus a review, we would love to
hear from you your review andyour five star rating.
And then, if you I've everwanted to get in touch with me,
you can find me at firstgenfmcomor you can email me at Jen
that's J-E-N.
Jen at firstgen-G-E-N-F-Mcom,and I would love to hear from
(36:56):
you if you would like to be onthe podcast and share what
you're doing, or if you justhave any feedback on the podcast
about other people we mightwant to talk to.
Thanks again for listening.
Have a wonderful week and we'lltalk to you again next week.
Hi and welcome to First Gen FM, a podcast for
educators who want to learn moreabout serving, working with,
celebrating first generationcollege bound and college
students.
Welcome, julie, I am so excitedyou are here and I hope you're
excited to listen to JulieCarballo today, who is the
(00:36):
assistant dean of students forfirst generation and military
affiliated initiatives at NorthCentral College, which, if
you're asking, is in Naperville,illinois.
And today, julie and I aregoing to talk about empowering
and engaging first generationcollege students to inspire
first generation college boundstudents.
(00:56):
Both of us have done differentkinds of programs and so I'm
like, oh, julie, I want to stealeverything you're going to tell
me and we're going to go andlearn.
So get ready, get listening,here we go.
So, julie, you know, my firstquestion is going to be what
sparked you to get into highered and, specifically, to work in
first gen initiatives?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Hi Jen, I'm so happy to be here and talk about my
favorite topic first generationcollege students and initiatives
.
So, briefly, my background Istarted teaching and coaching at
the high school level, so theearly part of my career I was at
Argo High School near MidwayAirport in Chicago and started
(01:42):
there, and then, after I had mysecond child, decided I wanted
to work more part time and ifyou're at the high school they
would let me do that.
But I still needed to go everyday.
So I looked into some collegesand have been at North Central
College since 1997 where Istarted teaching in the
education department there.
So I did not have a plannedpath into higher ed.
(02:07):
It kind of was a winding path,but I haven't left, never looked
back.
I loved very much working atthe high school level and it
greatly informs my work that Ido in higher education, knowing
the journey that the studentsare on and the transition from
high school to college.
So, as a half time facultymember in the education
(02:29):
department, our college receiveda grant from Council for
Independent Colleges to fund anew first gen initiative in 2008
and we launched the Teach Firstprogram at that time for our
first gen education majors.
And two years later I becamethe director of that.
(02:50):
So I was still a half timefaculty member and then also the
director of Teach First.
And over the next four yearsthat program grew and expanded
and, as students, sometimesstudents would change their
major away from education butstill want to be a part of the
program because of the communitythat it provided and the
connection.
So in 2014, north CentralCollege created a new full time
(03:13):
position, which was the directorof first generation programs,
and asked me if I would moveinto that position and create a
first gen program for all of thestudents on our campus.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And you, because if anybody had heard us, like the
first 20 minutes, while weweren't recording, we were just
all talking about creating andhow we love to create programs
from scratch, so that was rightup your alley.
So did you jump at it and say,like I really like this group
working with the first genstudents, I'm in.
Or were you like I don't know?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I was very excited by the opportunity because I had
seen the need and as students,like I said, would change their
major away from education and wedidn't have anything similar
for them on campus.
So I was very excited at theopportunity.
So the first year we pilotedCardinal First was the name that
we came up with after ourmascot and we piloted a program
(04:09):
called Cardinal First Fridaysfor our first year, first gen
students, and then the programhas now grown its cohort based
programming from a student'sfirst day at North Central
through graduation.
So we have Cardinal FirstFridays for first years,
cardinal First Merceppers,cardinal First penultimate for
juniors and Cardinal First homestretch for seniors.
And those are monthly one hourworkshops offered at multiple
(04:31):
times.
So we provide content andconnections and connection to
faculty to students that aredevelopmentally meet where they
are on their college journey.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, that's great.
Now can students move betweenthem if they see something
that's like, or they have tostay in their lane in their year
?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
They generally stay in their and we call them by
their graduation year.
So the 2027s, the 2026s, the2025s so they generally stay
with that cohort because then,for example, the current 2025s
we're working with them onmaking sure that they arrange a
summer experience this summerand internship or research
(05:11):
that's going to build theirskills and resume and set them
up for post graduation.
And then, with the 2024s, we'reworking with them on finding
community and connection aftergraduation and getting set up
for what you're going to doafter graduation.
With the 2027s, they'repreparing for your first final
exams and so each we try toprovide them with the content
(05:34):
and the information that wethink is relevant to where they
are at that point in the journey.
We do have Cardinal 1st, 3rdFridays.
That's open to all first genstudents and those are more
community building, stressrelieving types of types.
I think we're doing rockpainting at the next one,
something like that.
Do they have to bring their ownrocks?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
No, we have the rocks All right.
This, this sounds amazing.
We may have to do a wholenother podcast on just all of
the activities that you do.
So it sounds to me like Havingthe first-gen college students
work and inspire thecollege-bound first-gen students
(06:12):
works perfectly with yourbackground, because not only did
you work with the students andsee what they were going through
, but you were a teacher, so youalso know what the teachers can
and cannot do, what the schoolcounselors can and cannot do,
especially at larger publicschools.
So what kinds of things are youdoing with the first-gen
students to have them speak tothe college-bound students about
(06:35):
?
You know why they might want togo to college, how they pay for
college, all of the questionsthat the high school students
have.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So we one thing that we do is we have visit days for
first-generation collegestudents and we are seeing an
increase and they can either setthose up individually or their
high school or junior highgroups can bring a group of
students.
But when we have those groupsor individuals visit, we bring
(07:03):
in some of our first-genstudents to share a little bit
of their wisdom and experience,and when possible, from that
exact high school.
So we'll try to get thosestudents to and they'll have
them give a shout out to one oftheir favorite high school
teachers or something like that.
But we it's powerful for thecurrent high school students to
see students who came from theirhigh school or who look like
(07:27):
them and to say this is what Iexperienced in high school or
this is how I chose this schooland why I chose it.
And we have different questionsthat will ask them about like
what do you know now that youwish you knew when you were a
sophomore in high school?
Or what's one struggle?
Another common question iswhat's the struggle you faced
(07:48):
during your first year ofcollege and how did you work
through it to normalize that?
You know struggle as part ofgrowth and doesn't mean you
don't belong or that you're notgoing to be successful.
So we'll have that as well.
We also talk a lot aboutsuccessful students ask for help
.
And how did you ask for help?
And you know, as a collegestudent.
(08:09):
So we have different topicslike that, so we use them as
panelists at those.
We also try to make sure thatwe have first-gen students
working in our admissions officeand so if a student identifies
that they're first-gen, thenthey'll get a tour guide who is
also first-gen to be able totalk about that experience.
We've also done with some ofthe high school students, with
(08:34):
some of the high school highschools groups, an initiative we
called first-gen collegeconversations, so first-gen
college conversations, and wehad different topics.
So we did these by zoom.
For two years we partnered witha few different high schools and
then many of those high schoolsare the ones that now bring
(08:55):
their groups to campus.
But we had five first-genstudent panelists, so five of
our current students serving aspanelists.
We let them.
You know we again we tried toget students from the same high
school or from nearby highschools and then we had, we
prepared them with questions inadvance and said give some
thought to these questions andlet me know which three you'd
like to answer on the panel.
(09:16):
And then again, the topics thatwe used were we did one for
college seniors what to know nowto be ready for I'm sorry for
high school seniors, for highschool seniors, what to know now
to be ready for what's next.
We did one on successful onlinelearning.
We did one on successfulstudents asked for help, one on
(09:39):
what didn't go right my firstyear and how I worked through it
, and again, what I know nowthat I wish I knew in high
school.
So we offered each high schoolto choose two of those topics
that they were interested in,and then we scheduled the events
about a month apart and so wezoomed into their classrooms or
sometimes they had students inthe auditorium and we did that.
(10:00):
And then, since then, some ofthe more local high schools have
invited us to bring a group ofstudents out to talk to their
first-gen students.
And last month, or earlier thismonth, on first-gen celebration
day, that evening we went outto a more rural high school
about 45 minutes from where weare, and I brought three
students with me to speak totheir students and families who
(10:24):
will be first generation collegestudents, and it's just very
powerful to watch, to listen tomy students realize they are now
success experts, collegesuccess experts that they can
talk to other first-gen studentsthat are now a year, a year and
a half away from completingtheir degree.
And then it's also.
(10:45):
You can see the reassurance andinspiration on the faces of the
high school students and theirfamilies as they listen to the
students talk about theirexperience.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's.
You know, sometimes they'resaying exactly what an
admissions counselor would sayor what the school counselor or
teacher would say, but when thestudents hear it from their
peers it's like, oh, that mustbe true.
And they just they pay moreattention to it.
I so I was.
I was lucky enough.
We received a donation from atNortheastern to take students on
(11:23):
.
I don't even know what to callit.
It was an alternative springbreak where I would take three
or four students and we wouldvisit high schools in an area we
went to.
It's funny, I'm like oh yeah, Itook students to Las Vegas for
spring break, but we did, and wewould travel to high schools
and up-ward bound programs andthe students would tell their
(11:43):
stories.
And I remember one time we wentto a school and one of my
students was telling his storyabout how he was suspended in
eighth grade for fighting andhow he got suspended.
And I didn't know it at thetime, but the teacher came up to
me afterwards and said youprobably didn't see it, but
(12:04):
there's two boys in the back whowere suspended.
And as soon as your studentsstarted to tell their story,
they just perked up and they,she said you could see on their
faces that they were now like Ican still go to college, like,
even though I have this mark,like the suspension, I can still
go to college.
And she said after that theirheads were up, they were fully
(12:25):
engaged and there's no otherperson who can do that except a
current student telling theirstory.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Absolutely.
The stories are so powerful andjust having it's really
beneficial for our current firstgen college students to reflect
on their experiences and whatthey've learned, and you can see
in them like I didn't reallythink about this, but I have
really grown because of that andthe struggle that almost made
(12:51):
me wanna stop is what got me onthis other path or got me
connected to this person, and soit's a really good reflection
exercise for the currentstudents to give some thought to
it, which is why we, when we dothese provide, we provide them
with the questions in advance tothink a little bit about it.
And after we did this, thisworkshop series with the partner
(13:14):
high schools, we then surveyedour own students and their
feedback was very, very positiveon how they reflected in a
different way on their collegejourney than they had.
And when I just came back onNovember 8th, that evening, when
we were doing the 45 minutedrive back to campus, the
students were so excited andsaid like we should be doing
(13:35):
this, we should be doing more ofthis and you know what else we
should talk about, and thiswould have been helpful for my
parents to hear and things likethat.
So there's definitely value forboth the current college
students and for the high schoolstudents and the families.
But yeah, value for growth andinspiration.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's inspirational, but I think
it's also transformational forthe students that opportunity to
reflect, because so often atleast in my experiences with my
students they're so busy lookingahead, like to getting to the
top of the mountain, that theydon't turn around to see the
view of how far they've come andall the things that they've
(14:20):
learned, like especially thatasking for help behavior,
because they're so independent,like they have worked to get
where they are and they havedone it and they feel like
they've done it solo.
But when they get to collegethey can't do that.
And then when they reflect onthat it's like, oh, wait a
minute.
Like I'm surrounded by thesupport, like wait a minute, and
(14:42):
I've learned to ask for that.
I mean, have you found that aswell?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And last year in the fall, ourseniors, you know we were saying
what sort of programming wouldbe helpful for you this year and
a few of them said how are wegonna navigate after we graduate
and don't have these kinds ofsupports around us?
So we partnered with ourwellness center and offered a
(15:08):
workshop on finding communityand connection after college,
Because it is a big that is abig change too, and again and
now we're trying to have alumnishare their experiences doing
that as well.
So we have one of our first genprofessors who is amazing.
Dr Donabeev Smith always talksabout with our students, about
(15:30):
you should have one hand forwardbeing mentored by one or two
people and you should have onehand back bringing two people up
behind you on the journey,which I think is a great visual
and reminder that you know I canbe inspiring other people and I
need to soak up the mentoringand wisdom that's available to
(15:50):
me from the people that are ayear or two ahead of me on the
journey.
And we've been talking more nowwith our current students about
, you know, building theirnetwork on campus with peers and
with, you know, faculty andstaff, and in fact, that's one
of the other things that we doto empower our first gen
students to reflect on theirstory is we've done an art
(16:11):
display that we just did ourthird one this year.
So we did the first one in 2019and we invited all first gen
juniors and seniors to share apiece of advice that they have
for younger first generationcollege students or people
behind them on the journey, andwe used it with our.
We take those posters out tothe high school presentations as
(16:32):
well, but so we had 60 of ourcurrent first gen students.
They all were photographed andthen we put up these posters
with their one or two pieces ofadvice, and it's very, very
powerful to hear what they eachhave to say.
And again, you could seesomebody who you know.
Somebody's message wouldresonate with almost every
student on campus.
(16:53):
And then in 2019, 2021, we didone on what's one or two things
you learned about life from yourfamily or supporters, and so we
we shared that, and that wasover family weekend, and that
display was up over familyweekend.
It was amazing.
Again, we invite the juniorsand seniors to participate in
that.
And then the one we did thisyear was on that networking
(17:16):
theme share about an experienceor relationship that opened a
door to a new understanding ornew experience, and so it was
very powerful of how thisprofessor, you know mentioned
this to me, or this person thatI work with did this.
There was lots of shout outs tofaculty and staff who connected
(17:37):
the student to a newopportunity or a new way of
understanding things.
So then, that display is stillup, it's up for the month of
November on campus, aroundcampus, and many displays
elsewhere.
So, again, it brings awarenessto the first gen identity and
then just to their wisdom thatthey've now gained along the way
(17:59):
, and hopefully, for the firstgen students behind them on the
journey, the importance ofbuilding relationships across
campus while you're here, causewe do have we have a significant
commuter population.
I mean more than half of themon campus, but many students are
I'm just here to get my degreeand I work, you know, and so we
really try to work with them on,you know, improving their
(18:21):
experience and also buildingtheir network and knowing how
that, you know, gettingconnected to faculty, as we all
know, connects you to the socialcapital that you wouldn't
otherwise be connected to, andgetting connected to peers who
are a year or two ahead of youon the journey.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So that's one of the other ways.
Yeah, I mean, it gives you tipsand tricks when you know the
faculty member and you sit andtalk with them.
And yeah, a couple of storiesbring to mind.
I remember I had a studentnamed Joe and I had required the
students as part of theirscholarship you have to go talk
to a professor, like that's partof your scholarship, and I
would give them some here's somequestions you can ask, so that
(19:02):
they wouldn't be like I don'tknow what to talk about.
And I remember him doing it andcoming back to hand in the
sheet and he's like they werelike a real person.
I was like, yes, they are, andhe formed a relationship with
that particular professor andthat was so much fun to see.
And I had another student whowent to a panel discussion of
(19:24):
people who were in engineeringand she was studying chemical
engineering and she reallywanted to talk to one of the
panelists who was doingsomething that she was really
interested in, but she had noidea what to say.
So she was brilliant.
She went up and said I'm sorryI really don't have time to talk
to you right now, but do youhave a business card that I
could contact you later withsome questions and I was like
(19:48):
what a great line.
Like you don't have to come upwith things for the moment, but
you make the connection, you getthe card and then you can think
about what you wanna say.
I'm like, wow, that is so smart.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That is very smart.
We have a first gen alum whonow works in Major League
Baseball, but he tells the storyof he went to a panel that was
happening on campus that wasorganized by professors in his
major and he debated whether hehad time for that or if he
should go study or do work.
But he went that day, made aconnection, got a summer
internship that ended up leadinghim to his dream job in Major
(20:24):
League Baseball.
It is what I meant to say.
I'm not sure if that's what Isaid MLB, but so again, saying
yes to the opportunities thatare available on campus too is
another important thing, butbecause I mean it's just like
information and connection thatyou wouldn't have otherwise.
So that's another one of ourmantras is like say yes or at
(20:49):
least think throughopportunities that you might not
have again that are availableon campus to build your network
with other people and getconnected to other first gen
champions.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
On campus, yeah, and I think, talking through, how do
you make that decision aboutwhat might be particularly
unique to the campus experience,so that you know to say yes,
because it might not be anopportunity that will come to
you once you leave the college?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yes, we try to stress that in our communications too,
saying this won't happen again.
This is one and only time, likewe just did LinkedIn photos as
part of our first gencelebration week, and we say
this is the one and only timewe're doing this this year so
that because inevitably,somebody will be asking about it
(21:39):
a couple weeks later which is Iwould have been that person at
age 21 too like, well, I didn'tneed one then.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Right, well, I would have said, but there's no
LinkedIn now.
When I was a senior, we neverhad to worry about those things
like headshots and LinkedIn andsocial media.
So that's very true.
That's very true, goodness,goodness.
So let me ask you this what areyou seeing in your new students
?
Maybe that's different fromprevious years, you know,
(22:09):
because I think the studentscoming in now had an
interruption in their formativeyears of setting a base for
learning in high school.
I think these students who arefirst years now were 10th
graders.
Have you noticed anydifferences across the years in
terms of what they need or whatthey're asking for, or maybe
(22:32):
what they're even not asking for?
Right?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
We try to anticipate their needs, because you can't
know what you need becauseyou're not familiar with the
higher ed landscape.
We are trying to include ineach one of the workshops some
study strategies Study smarter,not harder.
Yes, study smarter, not harder,With some specific things
(22:56):
Within our program, we haveleaders.
We have a leadership team forCardinal First with 37 student
leaders this year.
They work with the first years.
They have a group of firstyears assigned to them.
We have them prepare.
What are two ways that youmanage your procrastination?
What are two ways that youmanage your time?
(23:19):
Our workshops are always thefirst Friday of the month.
This Friday we'll be having ourDecember Cardinal First Friday
workshops.
We're going to be talking aboutpreparing for your first final
exams.
We have the leaders sharing.
This is what I do differently inmy life the week before final
exams.
This is what I do the weekbefore final exams.
This is what I do the week offinal exams From everything from
(23:42):
self-care to using a GPAcalculator to decide where you
should put your most energy andthings like that Listening very
carefully to what the incidentalinformation is shared by the
professor the week leading up tothe exam and things like that.
(24:03):
That's our leaders reflectingon their own experiences and
what they do that works.
We were preparing with themright before Thanksgiving.
I said just think back to yourfirst year, first semester.
This is their first time goinginto these final exams.
We do everything from here isthe final exam calendar and
making sure they know when theirexam time is, because it's not
(24:26):
always.
When I was faculty somebodywould always get tripped up on
that, even though things likethat the leaders reflecting on
that.
Then we'll also often do aGoogle doc and ask any first gen
junior and senior please add onhere what advice you have for
our first years taking theirfirst final exam, Again them
(24:46):
sharing their wisdom, and we'llcategorize those and send them
out to the first years.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I love that.
I'm totally stealing that forour next meeting that we have
this week.
I'm just going to say let'stalk a little bit about final
exams.
We talked about academicintegrity.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Sorry to interrupt.
We talked about academicintegrity and what that means
and how important it is.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat.
One other thing we do at thisworkshop in December is so it's
the last workshop of their firstsemesters we have thank you
cards that we print withCardinal First graphic on the
(25:22):
outside and on the inside itsays dear blank.
I've been asked to reflect onthree people at North Central
College who've made my firstsemester of college a better
experience.
You are one of those people.
Then we asked the student toadd one sentence about I really
enjoyed the way you taught yourclass, Thanks for helping me
with my financial aid, whateverit is.
(25:43):
Then they signed their name andwe have it class of 2027 typed
on the thank you note two.
Then we put those out in thefaculty mailbox and staff
mailboxes, which ends up beingthe week before finals.
It's just a little bit of windin everyone's sails for that.
Last week we talked to thestudents about that.
We do it for a few reasons.
We do it to reinforce people onthis campus who are doing good
(26:06):
work with first gen students,because it's human nature to
complain with what people want.
We do it because it's a goodattitude of gratitude as a self
care thing that makes improveshow you're feeling as well.
Then we think it's an importantpersonal and professional habit
to take the time to thankpeople and let people know we
(26:29):
have sentence starters that ifyou have writer's block, which
lots of people do, here's a fewthings you might want to include
.
We ask each of them to writethree and then we put them in
the mailboxes and we have themdo that again at the end of
their first year and then at theend of their sophomore year and
then by senior year we justhave thank you notes available
to them, right?
(26:49):
That don't say Cardinal firston them, so they are just
writing you know their own andhe's too over there.
Oh, that's fantastic.
I think it's the faculty andstaff and you know are really
are grateful to receive them.
And I remember one year I had astudent to say, like my coach
is gonna laugh if he gets this,and then he came back the next
week.
He's like he was so happy thatI said you know that I sent him
(27:09):
a thank you note.
So I think it just is, you know, building a culture of
Expressing gratitude and, again,creating more awareness of our
first-gen student experience andthat you made it.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
You know you improve the students experience and
that's we wanted you to knowthat yeah, well, and that it's
Even though you may be directingit, and it's a first-gen
initiative that it really is theentire institution that's
supporting these students.
Yes, yes, yes, students to besuccessful.
And that sends that messagethat you're part of the whole.
Yes, exactly that is leadingour students to to graduation
(27:44):
and their career and you know,and, and all All the good things
that lie ahead for them.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yes, definitely, and several one of the faculty
members, but when she comes tospeak at our event, she's like I
carry these around with me.
These mean something to us.
You know, when we get one ofthese and others have them
hanging up in their Office andthings like that.
So it's, and I do thinkthroughout the students college
journey and professional career,it is an important habit to
develop to you know, thankssomeone who sit down and did an
(28:12):
informational interview with youor who mentored you on the job
or Wrote a letter recommendationfor you and things like that.
So again, teaching that as wellas part of that activity.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yeah, I love that, I love, I love everything that
you've shared about is it andand as we've been talking, it's
really Inspiration all around.
It's it's Alumni inspiring thestudents and sharing their
knowledge.
It's the students engaging withthe high school students, and I
love that expression of youknow Pulling two up and and sort
(28:44):
of holding on to one above.
That's such a good, such a goodvisual and it's it's just, it's
paying it forward and back andjust really beautiful kind of
stream of Gratitude and helpflowing, flowing back and forth.
It's like I people call themsoft skills, I call them power
skills, but it's like it's such,so powerful, these skills, that
(29:05):
they're getting from all ofthese things that you're sharing
with them and helping themlearn in college.
So, yeah, I'm stealing so muchof this.
I just want you, just just soyou know, julia, you know, take
it, take it some of these thingsto heart.
So, as as we're wrapping up here, because we've only got a few
minutes, because we just love tochat, what what advice would
you give for the folks who arelistening?
(29:26):
You know they're, they'reworking with the high school
students who are first-gen.
How can, how can maybe theywork with us to bring some of
our students to their schools ordo a zoom event.
What would just any generaladvice you have for them?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, I think, if there's a way they can keep in
touch with their high schoolsgraduates who have gone on, who
are first-gen college students,and let them come back and share
, either by zoom or we we havean event next week where we have
some of our alums just sendinga 90 second video in.
It's just because of logisticswith challenging, but I think
it's really, really powerfulwhen it when it's students from
(30:04):
there that own their own highschool.
So we have our very local highschools in Aprilville North.
We have a couple of their alumsthat our current students with
us go over there and speak everyyear and it's very, very
powerful.
So, I think, trying to stay intouch with your own alums and
then Finding, you know, currentfirst-gen college students who
would Resonate the with yourstudents to share their stories
(30:31):
about, and I like to talk aboutthe struggles.
I think that instead of Justyou know, I would choose a
student who struggled andovercame a few obstacles over a
student who has a 4.0 and is,you know, seemingly as navigated
effortlessly through theprocess, because I think that's
empowering, like you shared withthe Students who have had some
struggles, and when we have ourfirst-gen faculty and staff talk
(30:54):
to our students, we have themshare a struggle that they
experienced in undergrad.
So we have a faculty member whowas economically dismissed in
college and now has, you know, adoctorate and things like that.
So I think, similarly, findingand you're finding out at your
high school which one of yourteachers is Administrators were
first-generation collegestudents and having signs on
their doors or t-shirts so thatit's easily, they're easily
(31:17):
identifiable by the currentstudents, I think would be very
powerful.
Yeah, do you do any trainingwith this?
Speaker 1 (31:26):
This is going back a little bit.
Do you know any training withthe students about sharing their
stories and and Kind of whatnot to share, or that you know?
If you're going to talk aboutyour struggles, here's how you
might Now I'm not thinking likeput a positive spin on it,
because I totally agree with you.
Sharing struggles is important,but do you have to have those
(31:49):
trainings or conversations abouthow you'd go about doing that?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
We do provide some guidance in advance by way of an
email and we do one meetingwith them before they would talk
and we before they do theirfirst presentation.
But we always, when we talk tothe one about what's the
struggle you experienced, I'mgoing to say I always say it's a
two-part question what's thestruggle you experienced during
your first part of college and,more importantly, how did you
(32:13):
work through it?
So you're, and we typically workwith juniors and seniors
because the finish line is insight and they're feeling a
little bit more confident.
But some of them will even sayI did not think I was going to
graduate until I got to mysenior year, like I had doubts
about that the whole time.
And with this Teach Firstprogram that we still have with
the first gen education majors,we have, as they're doing their
(32:36):
student teaching, we have themcome back to a meeting and we
have them share what's one thingyou learned about yourself
during this experience, and it'syou know.
One of them said that I wasn'thorrible at teaching and that's
something I worried about forfour years, you know.
And so they just really sharecandidly and vulnerably about
their imposter syndrome andtheir fears and how they kept
(32:59):
moving forward despite thesefears that they, you know, were
navigating.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, yeah, oh.
I'm sure that's so powerful.
And now, what advice do youhave for folks like me who are
in the college working withfirst gen students?
How can we sort of support thatwonderful, you know, reaching
up to the alum and reaching backto the high school students?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Well, I think that you know partnering with your
office of admissions to be ableto have your students, you know,
being tour guides or speakingwhen you know it's a first gen
group that's coming to campus,or offering first gen visits for
high school groups and juniorhigh groups.
As much as your school can dothat, I think that that's really
powerful.
And then providing studentswith the opportunity to share a
(33:43):
little bit of their wisdom.
So it can be as simple as youknow, here's please complete
this Google form to tell ourfirst year first gen students to
welcome them to your college orto prepare for final exams.
We do something similar withmaking the most of your summer,
and we get advice from currentstudent, current first gen
students, and faculty and staffto share with first year
(34:06):
students about their firstsummer, and it can be everything
from take advantage of the freedance lessons you know in
downtown Chicago, or to just avariety of different things too,
so that people are sharing.
This is what worked for me.
This is what I wish I wouldhave done, because that's
another thing that we focus on.
You have three summers For mostpeople.
You have three summers incollege, three or four summers
(34:28):
in college, and how to make themost of them, so that you're
refreshed and moving yourselfforward toward where you want to
be when you graduate.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Right, keeping your brain on, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Or I'll tell them, like even over, I'll say you
have a 27 day winter breakcoming up.
Choose for those days to dosome of these things you know
relax and work and do the otherthings, but choose for those
days to consider some of thesethings.
So that, and same with thesummer break, I always count the
number of days of summer break.
I spend them.
A communication where, at thehalfway point of summer break,
(35:02):
some things you might want toput on your to-do list before
the end of summer.
So just being mindful of makingthe most of time when you have
a little bit more time duringthose breaks, but theoretically
you have a little bit more time.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah, and it makes it not overwhelming.
It's like we're not saying youhave 27 days, take 26 days and
do all these things.
It's like, no, take five daysRight.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Right Great.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Well, if somebody wanted to reach out to you and
they say, oh, like I love yourprograms, can I get a list of,
like some of your first, youknow, cardinal first year
programs, how would they reachout to you?
How would they find you?
Speaker 2 (35:38):
I am on LinkedIn, so they are definitely welcome to
connect with me on LinkedIn.
And we also have a prettyrobust website about Cardinal
first.
So that's at wwwnoctrledu slashCardinal-first, but you can
just search the college'swebsite for that.
(35:59):
We have quite a bit ofinformation on there.
And our Cardinal first socialmedia.
We have North Central CollegeCardinal first on Facebook and
then our Instagram is at firstgen Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Okay, all right, so now.
Now you know where to find them.
Thank you, julie, for beingwith me and sharing all these
things.
I learned a lot.
I took copious notes, so I'llbe experimenting with all these
things, but it was a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Thank you so much.
It was my pleasure.
Thank you, jen, and thanks forthis great podcast, so we all
can continue to share ideas andkeep moving first gen forward.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yes, my pleasure.
And if you would like to giveus a review, we would love to
hear from you your review andyour five star rating.
And then, if you I've everwanted to get in touch with me,
you can find me at firstgenfmcomor you can email me at Jen
that's J-E-N.
Jen at firstgen-G-E-N-F-Mcom,and I would love to hear from
(36:56):
you if you would like to be onthe podcast and share what
you're doing, or if you justhave any feedback on the podcast
about other people we mightwant to talk to.
Thanks again for listening.
Have a wonderful week and we'lltalk to you again next week.
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