December 10, 2024 • 34 mins
Lisa Rivera, the director of First Generation Student Initiatives at Suffolk University, joins us to share her journey from being a first-gen student in Florida to making her mark in higher education. Listen as Lisa recounts how the AVID program and her mentor, Ms. Dennison, were pivotal in her path to Allegheny College. Her story is a testament to the transformative power of mentorship and supportive educational programs, sparking curiosity about how such resources shape first-generation students' academic journeys and beyond.
Transitioning from college to career can be a daunting experience, especially for first-gen students. Lisa opens up about her early professional hurdles, from working multiple jobs to make ends meet to the unexpected challenges she faced at a temp agency. Her narrative highlights themes of resilience and adaptability as she navigated job hunting and career building without prior internships. Through Lisa's experiences, we explore how first-gen students can leverage curiosity and a willingness to learn in creating their professional paths, even when things don't go as planned.
More about Lisa Rivera
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisamriv/
lisa.rivera@suffolk.edu
Lisa Rivera, EdM, is the inaugural Director of First-Generation Student Initiatives, joining the Center for First-Generation & Educational Equity at Suffolk University in November 2022, where she leads initiatives to enhance programming and support for first-generation students, faculty, and staff.
A first-generation college graduate and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) alumna, Lisa earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts and Women’s Studies from Allegheny College in 2014 and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a concentration on Higher Education Administration from Boston University in 2019.
Previously, Lisa spent seven years at Boston University’s Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, where she advanced through roles in admissions, student affairs, and career development. She supported the student lifecycle from recruitment to career entry, including facilitating admissions cycles, coordinating student affairs and student organization programming, and delivering career readiness guidance, including teaching lectures on preparing for career and residency interviews and leading an annual career fair, integrating student support with strategic planning to enhance retention and success.
An advocate for first-generation students, Lisa has co-advised Alpha Alpha Alpha (Tri-Alpha) chapters, the national honor society for first-generation college students, at both Boston University and Suffolk University, participated in allyship and developed championing first-generation programming at both universities for faculty and staff audiences, and presented at the NASPA national conference on support for first-generation graduate and professional students and the BACHA’s local conference on career readiness for higher education professionals.
With a commitment to equity and access, Lisa continues to foster community and create pathways for first-generation success inside and outside of the classroom.
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 (00:04):
Welcome and welcome back to the First Gen FM podcast
, where we high school andcollege educators strengthen,
celebrate and supportfirst-generation college and
college-bound students.
I'm Jennifer Schoen, your host.
Please call me Jen.
I'd love it if you could leavea review and a rating for this
podcast to help other educatorsfind us.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to do that.
(00:27):
Now let's dive into this week'sepisode.
Today I'm talking to Lisa Rivera, who is the inaugural director
of First Generation StudentInitiatives, a member of the
Center for First Generation andEducational Equity at Suffolk
University in the great city ofBoston, where she leads
initiatives to enhanceprogramming and support for
(00:47):
first-generation students,faculty and staff.
A first-generation college gradand avid Advancement Via
Individual Determination alumna,lisa has a bachelor's degree in
communication, arts and women'sstudies from Allegheny College
and a master's in educationalleadership and policy studies
with a concentration in highered administration from Boston
(01:07):
University.
She's an advocate forfirst-generation students, has
advised Tri-Alpha chapters, theNational Honor Society for
first-gen college students atboth Boston and Suffolk
universities, and championsfirst-generation programming for
faculty and staff audiences.
So I'm delighted to welcomeLisa Rivera to talk with us
(01:28):
today.
Hey, welcome, lisa, to theFirst Gen FM podcast.
I am really excited to talk toyou today about being first-gen,
not just in college but for allways, and how that identity
kind of helps with transitions,and you know transitions to
college, transitions to careerand even your journey through
(01:52):
all of those things.
So why don't we just start withthat, like, tell me about your
journey to college as afirst-gen student.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Sure, well, thank you for having me, jen.
It's always nice to see you atother meetings and conferences
because you're just such a fun,genuine energy.
So just before we start theconversation, I did want to put
that out there.
I always like connecting withyou.
Thank you, I appreciate it, ofcourse.
So my first-gen journey Okay, Iam originally from St
Petersburg, florida, in theTampa Bay area, and I had a lot
(02:21):
of family growing up in theCleveland area in Ohio.
So you know bucket that for alittle bit later in the
wraparound conversation.
But in my high school I had aprogram called AVID, which
stands for Advancement ViaIndividual Determinism.
I think I love AVID.
Yes, you know about AVID, I do.
Oh, not everybody does.
(02:41):
Okay, that brings me so muchjoy, truthfully.
But so I was an Avid kid whereI don't.
I met another program actuallythe other day and I was
reminiscing.
They were asking me questionsabout like what do you remember
from the program?
And I remember having the bigbinders to walk around with and
back in my day we still hadtextbooks.
So we had a huge binder alongwith all of these textbooks in
(03:01):
our backpack and that was likethe thing that connected all of
us for Avid, but apparentlyeverything's online now, so then
I didn't need to worry aboutthat part, which was a real
shocker for me in the moment.
I was like I didn't think thatthat was that outdated.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But and they also don't build up strong muscles
from carrying those things allaround either.
Where's that?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
back muscle resiliency yes, it's just not
there Right.
So at least we benefitedsomehow from it.
But so I joined that program mysophomore year and I had the
same teacher all throughout AVID.
Her name at the time was MsDennison.
I think now she's Mrs Lee, butSarah Dennison is how I knew her
and she was just and still kindof is actually everything that
(03:41):
I ever really aspired to be,because she was so kind to all
of her students, like stillplayful and joking around but
really pushed us when she knewthat we were capable of so much
more and really just wanted thebest for us, whatever that
looked like, whatever decisionwe made at the end of the day.
So she's someone I look back onfondly all the time when I
think about just the work thatwe're doing in first gen broadly
(04:03):
.
So I will probably forward herthis episode, anyways.
So we had a project in highschool in that program and we
had to choose a college from thebook Colleges.
That Changed Lives and one ofthe colleges ended up being
Allegheny College and I had twoalumni at my high school and I
didn't even know about it at thetime.
One was associated with AVID,one was one of the college
(04:24):
counselors.
I think I didn't even knowabout it at the time.
One was associated with AVID,one was one of the college
counselors, I think.
And I remember just I rememberresearching Allegheny and I
loved everything about it.
I loved all the majors, I lovedthe environment there and it
ended up being in a suburb ofPittsburgh, pennsylvania.
It was like right in betweenPittsburgh and Cleveland, and so
one of my big goals was to becloser to my family in Cleveland
, because we would only go acouple of summers out of the
(04:44):
year and I kind of wanted tomake up for lost time with my
cousins.
I I, yeah, even though I'm anonly child and like a small
cohort, is in Florida, bigfamily person in that regard.
So I, yeah, I remember onlyapplying to Allegheny and maybe
two other colleges in FloridaOne denied me and one I didn't
(05:04):
even complete the applicationfor, truthfully.
And I got my acceptance letterto Allegheny on Christmas Eve
and I remember seeing apersonalized letter that
referred to my involvement intheater as a big theater kid and
just really excited that Iwould join.
I don't know if they madepersonalized letters for
everybody, but to me as a seniorin high school I was like this
(05:24):
is amazing.
And so yeah, and then fromthere just obviously finished
out senior year, went over toMeadville and then the fun began
at Allegheny.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
What was that transition like?
Like was it everything youexpected?
Was it better, worse?
Like what was your mindsetgoing in?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I was very excited because I got to be independent
and fully on my own and fartheraway from home like very far
away from home but still withinarm's reach, in a sense of
family in Cleveland.
So I was very excited aboutthat.
But when I got there, very muchfull of energy and all of that.
But then I think after sometime my cat's running in the
(06:05):
background ferociously, so Isorry I she's so loud to me but
you might not be able to hearher.
I actually do.
No, not a peep.
Oh yeah, she's there, she'sthere doing her thing.
But after the excitementsettled I did.
I started to feel moreoverwhelmed with just either
managing my own time or notknowing what the next best step
(06:27):
was to do to reach out foroffice hours and I also think I
don't know if it's stillconsidered a PWI or if it
technically was considered a PWIwhen I was there.
But it felt like I was at apredominantly white institution
and my family's from Puerto Rico.
So it was coming from my ownexperiences and jumping into a
new institution and a wholesystem to navigate on top of
(06:48):
just really feeling not in myelement.
And St Pete was so culturallydiverse, let alone economically
but very culturally diverse.
My high school was yeah, Iremember that being one of the
things in high school there, butanyways.
So I made friends eventuallyand it was nice to kind of open
up about some things that I wasexperiencing.
(07:10):
But I don't think that firstyear I had made a friend.
That was also first gen.
So it was also a little bitdifficult to feel comfortable
opening up about it becauseoftentimes I felt like I would
be the only one.
And you know, today we now talkabout first gen more.
There's a whole national centerright Dedicated to getting all
this knowledge and research andall those things.
(07:30):
But you know there was muchmore, I would say, in my
experience, a stigma aroundthrowing that out there because
it meant that, oh well, yourfamily didn't have either like
the funds to go previously.
So what kind of household didyou grow up in, or those kinds
of things.
So it definitely took some timeto adjust.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
So what did you end up majoring in?
Did you major in theater?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
No, I didn't.
I was in the theater building,though.
I majored in communication artsand then we were required at
Allegheny to minor and it had tobe something that was outside
of like whatever I forgot it washad to be like
interdisciplinary sort of ohokay, that's not quite the
language for it.
All that to say, I minored inwomen's studies, but they
changed it to, I think, genderand sexuality studies women's
(08:18):
gender and sexuality studiesright after I left Allegheny.
So my degree probably sayssomething a little bit different
.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
But yeah, okay, so, all right.
So here you are.
Then you you made thetransition to college.
You're like I'm in my major,I'm making friends, I'm being
involved, um, but then you haveto make another transition as a
first gen so you're still thesame identity into a career.
So what happened next?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So what happened next ?
Oh well, I remember being, fromsophomore year to senior year,
a tour guide at admissions andthen eventually a guidance
counselor's assistant my senioryear and it was known as the
best job on campus and I lovedit.
I loved giving tours.
I love learning about thehistory of Allegheny.
I loved just all this likerah-rah behind it and feeling
(09:03):
really enthusiastic about likebeing in this space to really
learn and grow and questionthings.
So that's where I kind of foundlove with higher ed, cheesily
through college doors.
But I did not intern at allthroughout college.
I didn't intern because Iworked at the restaurant that I
had always worked at since I wasin high school.
It's kind of like a Texasroadhouse, but the Florida
(09:24):
version.
It was called Cody's Roadhouseand I loved working there every
summer.
I got to see friends that Iwould leave and come back to and
all that.
But I got to save money for theupcoming academic year for
different things that would comeup, basic things, and I was in
a sorority in school too.
So that was my way of paying mydues on my own, my dues and all
(09:47):
that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So luckily Allegheny was sosmall that the Greek life
environment was very differentthan some of the larger
institutions, especially in theSouth.
It was much more like my bestfriends were in sororities that
weren't mine.
Anyways, all of that to sayGreek life was very different.
It was much more chill atAllegheny, but anyway.
So, yeah, I did an intern.
I just worked throughout thesummers so I didn't have like
real working experience andsomething that I could use after
(10:10):
with my degree.
But at the time everybody said,oh, you're in communication arts
, so marketing is the way to goor public relations is the way
to go.
There was always thisassumption that that's what you
do, at least in the world.
That's at the time what wasassumed.
But I never.
I was never really kind of mycalling.
I loved public relations at onepoint because I think I liked
(10:31):
the idea of it as this like girlboss kind of coming into their
own, but that was just never mypersonality also.
So I ended up moving home for ayear and working at the same
restaurant and I got tobasically spend more time with
my parents and get some of thattime back, since I was gone for
so long and I was originallysupposed to move to Pittsburgh
(10:55):
or the greater Pittsburgh area,um, and that that fell through.
That that, uh, experience fellthrough.
So, um, my best girlfriends andI said we wanted to move to a
big city, but we didn't want NewYork because that felt quite
too big, but we wanted just abrand new slate.
And one was coming fromCleveland, one was coming from
Chicago and then me from St Pete.
We said Boston, it's going tobe it.
(11:16):
There's alumni there that wedidn't even really think about.
Yeah, I know, right, and it's abig enough city to where you
know we can go.
We don't have as many otherresponsibilities or ties at this
point in our lives.
We were very lucky, becausethat's not the case for so many
people at our age at the time.
Right, yeah, we recognize that.
But then we moved up here and Iremember temping at an
(11:38):
organization.
I don't remember exactly whatthey did.
It was like research for legalcases maybe.
So, you know, cool organizationbut much more corporate than my
, my personality.
I guess we'll just call it that.
I remember this was soembarrassing.
But I remind students of thisstory too because they can learn
from it.
I attempted that agency when wefirst moved here because I
didn't apply or didn't hear backabout any higher ed jobs that I
(12:01):
applied to.
I ended up applying to jobs andadmissions with my experience
from undergrad.
So I worked at this temp agencyand I remember telling the
person who was kind of like ourgo-to boss, hey, is it okay if I
leave a little bit early onthis day, I can come in either
earlier or stay a little bitlater.
Another day I have an interviewfor another job, so I just want
(12:22):
to make sure I'm getting myhours in and all of that.
And I remember her looking atme a little bit more confused,
like why would you tell mesomething like this?
And I remember her also sayingyou know what your contract
stipulates, right?
Like you know what you'reobligated to do.
And I was like, oh yeah, and inmy mind I'm like this is
temporary.
We both an understanding thatthis is temporary.
I'm clearly going to be lookingfor other jobs that are
(12:43):
permanent and so on and so forth.
And I think that was like middleof the week.
And then by the end of thatweek I got a call from the temp
agency saying that they areletting me go because of, like
an Excel speaking of Excelspreadsheets, some issue with me
in Excel and I don't remember,using Excel, I might've sent an
incorrect email to somebody,which was a mistake, and that's
(13:06):
true I did mess up on that, butnothing wild like that.
But I know that it had to dowith actually being open about
it, because I got a follow-upinterview that I again
communicated to them about andshe was still like why?
Yeah, exactly.
So, anyways, all that to say, Ilost that job and I ended up
(13:28):
getting the job that I wasinterviewing for, which was an
admissions and student affairsrepresentative at Boston
University's dental school onthe medical campus in the South
End, and I was there for sevenyears and I just continued my
love of higher ed there.
So it worked out in the end.
But a lot of risky businesswith the move and not having
visited Boston or seen ourapartment that we signed up for
(13:49):
or had a job lined up.
So that's major and I wouldn'tencourage that for everybody,
necessarily, but it worked outand I but I do encourage people
to keep some of theirinformation to themselves when
it comes to temp jobs like thehard way.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
But what a risk taker you know to just be like, okay,
we're picking Boston, I mean,you were going at least with two
other people.
So you're like I have a homebase, I have people, and then no
job.
But then you got a tempposition so you did something so
that you would work there.
That's that.
I think that's very brave tojust kind of jump out like that
(14:26):
as a first gen student.
I guess, I guess, but you'renot a student now.
So we need we need more wordslike as a first gen professional
, as a first gen, you know, inhigher ed, what.
How does it feel to be a firstgen in higher ed and how does
your experience then kind ofinform what you do working with
students?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, I, this is a really good question because I
feel like we we talk about it insome of our communities and our
groups.
We don't always talk about it,you know, as we have talked
about in other meetings andother spaces.
You know, the first genidentity never leaves you.
You kind of remain first genfor the rest of your life and
that's not a scary thing butit's just kind of the reality of
(15:07):
life and your situation.
So, being a student and thenturning around to then work in
higher ed, we have an experiencein the sense of now knowing
what a registrar's office is,because before you get to school
, right, you're like what is aregistrar's office or at least I
did and or what are officehours, all those things.
So you have an understanding ofsome of those basics.
(15:28):
But now you're working behindthe scenes and you're working
within those systems and if youdidn't understand something
before and you graduated notknowing, like the why behind
something, then you're stillentering a brand new industry,
regardless of whether you were astudent there, without really
understanding that why also.
So I think we'll always havethat motivation and that
(15:55):
curiosity and the desire to askquestions, having been first gen
and then working in higher ed.
But it's a double-edged sword.
I love it because you get tosee students who you feel like
have a little bit of you in them, that similarity finally
reached that point of successfor graduation, or maybe they
got their dream internship, ormaybe they're just having a
really good day and that's allit takes and you feel so much
(16:19):
joy from that.
It's just joyful to see peopleexperience joy also.
But it's a double-edged swordbecause on top of that you do
have expectations still workingin the industry to know all of
the things.
And we don't know all of thethings.
And sometimes people who arecontinuing gen not even first
gen still don't know all of thethings.
So you ask questions but thensometimes you're labeled as the
(16:40):
person who has too manyquestions.
Or you want to get into thiscommittee or this group because
it really excites you and youwant to do something that's more
than just your everyday job.
But joining an industry for thefirst time and having that
excitement, I think for somepeople not everybody but feels a
little uncomfortable and likeit's threatening to the status
quo of what is and what hasalways been.
But that's so vital foranything new to happen, for
(17:04):
anything to grow.
So it's tough because itdiminishes.
Sometimes it feels like, oh mygosh, like what am I doing here?
I'm not progressing in the sameways I wanted and I just wanted
this one piece of joy to be apart of this one group or this
one thing.
And it's tough when you're firststarting out because it's a
little bit threatening.
But I also think that we asfirst gens always have a strong
(17:28):
sense of justice in somecapacity, sense of justice in
some capacity.
So that kind of resistance wefeel sometimes is, in my
experience at least, used asmore motivation to be consistent
, to find some otheropportunities, maybe outside of
your everyday, that lets youexperience and do the things
that you'd like to do andcontinue to ask those questions
because eventually something'sgoing to give, Eventually
(17:51):
something is going to move inthe direction that you've been
trying to move and that'll opena new door and opportunity.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I love that.
I love that you're talkingabout the strengths that
first-gen students bring toeducation our profession, but to
a profession in general, thatasking questions, that curiosity
, but to a profession in general, that asking questions, that
curiosity.
I mean, I've had professorstell me that they love having
(18:18):
first-gen students in theirclass because they the way she
put it is like a lot of otherstudents have, you know, learned
like this is the way to dothings and this is how you ask
questions.
But a first-gen student mightnot have had that in their high
school, for whatever reason.
And so they just come up andthey ask these questions and you
suddenly have to think ofthings in a different way and
this professor was just like soexcited.
(18:39):
She's like what can I do?
How can I get more first-genstudents in my class?
Um, but I think that curiosityis so key.
I love that, that it'sresilience.
But it's in a way that you weretalking about too, like I want
to do these things, but if Ican't do them directly, I'm
going to have a workaround tolike go under over around.
(19:00):
You know, I'm going to figureout how I can get that and how I
can find joy in doing what itis that I do.
So I, I, I love those two.
You know that you really talkedabout there that resilience
piece and that curiosity piece,because I think that's so true.
I see that all the time.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, and I think I mean I love the enthusiasm, but
I do know exactly what you'retalking about.
Some people are like whoa, whyare you so enthusiastic about
this?
We're just trying to getsomething done.
It's like no, definitely we allhave objectives to beat.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's like no, it's like, Definitely, we all have
objectives to beat, for sure,but you're, you're totally right
Like there's sometimes so muchmore to it than just a checkbox
you know, and that's significant.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
So yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
That's great, but I love that.
So when you're working withyour students, do you?
How do you prepare them forthat transition to their first
job?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That's a good question, either internship or
job, yeah, yeah, Kind of some ofthe things that we were just
talking about about askingquestions, ask away.
It's tough to be labeled asthat individual sometimes that
has too many questions, but it'sfor a reason, right.
And the other thing is you'rethere to ask those questions.
That's part of the purpose ofthis.
If an internship or a new jobchances are, it's for a reason
right.
(20:14):
And the other thing is you'rethere to ask those questions.
That's part of the purpose ofthis.
If an internship or a new jobchances are, it's probably entry
level.
So there's going to be so manymore learning experiences and
opportunities from that.
So being on a college campus orgoing to your first entry level
job, those are the places tomaybe mess up for a little bit.
Also right To then grow andlearn from it for there.
(20:35):
But sometimes it's down to thebasics of just it feels a little
silly to dress up, especiallynowadays.
I think we've gotten a little.
Me too.
I'm in the same boat of being alittle bit more lax and things
like that.
But I've noticed with thatthose reminders just become so
much more important because weare so used to being caught up
in kind of our everyday of ease,but we're there to kind of
(20:58):
bring our A game.
So that, yes, includes askingquestions, but that also
includes building out yournetwork too.
So, you know, commingling withsome of your colleagues in the
same positions, interning ornewbies at the organization,
there's so much to learn fromeven your peers, not just people
who are in higher positions.
So, and those are the peoplethat are going to be going
(21:18):
through life with you in a senseright, Whether they, working in
another organization or not,like you, have so much in common
in a sense, not all the time,but in a sense, and it's it's
just nice to turn around and totalk to somebody about your
experience that can relate towhat you're going through.
Chances are, regardless ofwhether they're first gen or not
, there's something there.
But in addition to that, ofcourse, talking to your boss a
(21:42):
little bit more to hear abouttheir experiences, or beyond
that, Because, even if it's notjust a task about like, how do I
do X, Y and Z in my job, lifeexperience and life mantras, all
of that comes from people atthese other organizations that
you'll be jumping into for thefirst time, and I think life
wisdom is just as important, ifnot sometimes even more
(22:04):
important than the tangiblethings of how to do your job or
what do you need to tack off abox of a list?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
you know.
Yes, I agree, I mean, in someways people use the word power
skill, soft skills, but I liketo call them power skills
because I think they're soimportant and I think asking
questions is one of those, likepower skills, that curiosity
piece.
So let me ask you this so howdo you teach, or do you teach,
(22:33):
or what do you think aboutteaching students how to ask
questions?
So you know they're not justgoing in like you know, tell me
about this.
It's more of a trying to getthe information they want, but
doing it in a professional way.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, that's another good question.
You know it's simple, but it'sstill a challenge, right.
Turning to your roommate orturning to another peer and
sometimes saying things out loudand registering it like whoa,
that's a little off-putting, orwhoa, that's a little.
Whatever are, your friend mightbe like well, wait, wait, wait,
(23:11):
wait, a minute.
Actually, like this is, this isa little sus, you know what I
mean.
So there's, you know, peer topeer and all of that, but
there's an entire resourcecenter or a department all
dedicated to this kind ofpreparation through things like
a career center, for example.
And because being first gen ismuch more of a hot topic now, I
think a lot of directors, otherstaff in those centers are
(23:34):
becoming attuned to some ofthese questions that they might
have, or some of theseinexperience or experience in
other ways we'll call it toowith how to communicate and how
to ask questions, especiallybecause this generation of
students lived through COVID ina much different way than what
we did.
You know, it's nice to lookback at some similarities and
stories that we have that mightresonate with some of our
(23:54):
students, but at the same time,they lived a completely
different life and way of beingin a time when we were probably
learning how to be more tactfulin, like, a high school setting,
it just didn't really line upright.
So, in addition to the buzzwordbeing the buzzword for first
gen knowing that there's muchmore research and literature
even though it's still comingout, but that's out there about
(24:16):
high school students that arenow first gen students in
college, and what does that meancompared to their COVID
experience, how to communicateand how to really have your
messaging resonate with them.
So it's twofold it'scomfortable turning to you're,
it's comfortable turning to yourfriend and practicing, but
using those resources.
That's what they're there for.
That is their job.
(24:37):
That is why your college oruniversity has dedicated time
and resources and funding behindthis.
Like, take advantage of thatresource to its end, because
your tuition dollars go to ittoo.
It affects you.
Like, yes, use it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I love, love that.
I love the idea that, likepractice on your peers because
they can tell you if, like, whoa, that's yeah, like you said,
that's off-putting or that was,that was a great question, um,
and then career we calleverybody calls it something
different career development,career design, the career center
, uh, all these different names.
But to use them earlier, eventhan they think they need to,
(25:13):
like don't just show up yoursenior year, like, go now.
Yeah, I also think you know,for us is to role model, that
asking questions is okay, it's asign of strength, so that we
ask them questions, you know,based on their experience, to
get more information from them,about them, about their
interests, but also toappreciate.
(25:35):
When they ask us questions, Ialways like to say you know,
thanks for reaching out, orthat's a great question, and
then you know my answer, just sothey know like yeah, you're
like, oh, you're not botheringme.
Yeah, I'm here to answer yourquestions, so I'm so glad you
asked.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, and you're right.
Your point is about the onusbeing on us to an extent for
faculty and staff.
We're also meant to fosterthose relationships and build
that bridge for comfortability,and without little things like
one sentence acknowledgement inan email or leaving your office
door open even though you mightbe really busy catching up on
some other projects.
But if a student wants to justpop in and, you know, talk to
(26:14):
you for a bit, little thingslike that, those are our
responsibility to your point andit adds to that as well.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, yeah, so what advice do you have for us, for
me, for all of you out therelistening about keeping that
identity as first gen Like?
What are, what are some of yourthoughts on that and how can we
pay more attention to that?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
And institutions are becoming more aware of the fact
that we hold this identitybeyond just our four years of
undergrad or so, and so they'rebuilding spaces for community
and to engage with one another,from first gen to first gen
faculty and staff.
Other institutions are alsodoing that as well.
That's so important, even ifit's not, you know, a webinar or
(27:13):
like a formal conversation,open during a lunch hour for
faculty and staff to learn, butjust an open space for people to
be like, hey, like we havelunch, coming into this space,
come meet other first-genfaculty and staff and what have
you.
That's really important becausein those conversations too, is
where, yes, we talk about thethings that resonate with both
of our stories, but more ideasabout how to move forward or new
programming to have for facultyand staff to stay connected or
(27:35):
to engage with students who arealso first gen.
All of that happens withinthese little community
networking bubbles to keeppushing forward with the work.
So I definitely think that'sone thing.
I think also working with theNational Center First Gen
Forward, who is just the leaderin all things first gen in a lot
(27:55):
of ways right, they have aplethora of resources through an
entire journal dedicated toresearch and journal articles,
but other little hubs for eitherlike conferences or local
conferences or not bulletinboards.
But other little hubs foreither like conferences or local
conferences or not bulletinboards but like online boards
where different conversationshappen when you're involved in
their organization.
So to your point.
I actually think that's reallygood.
(28:16):
That's a good opportunity forthose that are maybe earlier in
their career, know what theywant and don't really have the
ability within their everydayrole to do something like that,
pushing to get involved in someway, even if it's being like a
program reader or something likethat for a conference where
you're building thoseexperiences.
I mean, I guess this is morerelated to like doing first gen
(28:37):
work specifically, but even as afirst gen professional doing
first gen work, reading thefirst gen program reviews.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
I mean, that's such a great way, an easy way to stay
connected if you're part of thatorganization, that's you know
at looking for reviewers.
That's like such a nice andlow-key way to kind of get
involved, right, yeah, greatidea.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
I.
I know it's tough because ourschedules can be busy and we're
at this point getting to theyear where it's like, all right,
we're also ready for theholidays, just like the students
are ready to be.
So I can relate, I'm ready to,but yeah, it's just, it's it's
staying in forward, especiallyas more research comes out about
how COVID affected our students, or maybe how COVID affected us
(29:20):
as first gen professionals.
What does that look like?
Right and and kind of goingfrom there.
I think those leaders arereally good in in creating the
knowledge that we need, butbringing it back more locally to
have something like a simplecohort of faculty and staff that
get together every so often forfirst-gens.
That's, that's really importanttoo.
(29:41):
That's where the ideas happen,the further connections, all of
that.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So and that's where you find out too, on your campus
.
If a lot of people have thesame idea and if they don't know
what each other is doing yeah,yeah, like what.
You have scholarships,first-gen students Like wait,
like how can I help?
Or what can I do, and somebodyelse comes up with an idea.
You're like, oh, I've had thatidea too, and then you have more
(30:12):
people who can work on it, andwithout those gatherings, you
just don't get a chance to dothat which you know.
I would like to do more of onmy campus for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, yeah, we I'm blanking on what the larger
initiative is called right now,but it's coming from our
diversity and inclusion officeat Suffolk but there are just
basically like different smallercohorts that are more like
cultural and identity based thatwe have across the university
for faculty and staff and we'vebeen talking about creating one
for first gen.
So right there with you oftrying to bring something to
(30:39):
flourishing and maybe even ifit's easier for others on their
campus to attach on a concept oranything like that that's
already on their campus andthat's like adjacent, to make it
first gen, then that might makeit easier to get buy-in from
other campus partners.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
So yeah, Love that, Love that.
How can people reach you ifthey have questions?
If they're like Ooh, I likewhat's going on at Suffolk or
that piece you said, like I wantmore, how can they reach out to
you?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, I I'm fine with a direct email right now.
I know LinkedIn is great and Idefinitely get my LinkedIn as
well, though that's anotherplace to to connect, but I have
to admit I have not been thebest with LinkedIn this past
academic year.
I think my blurb is outdated.
I I get overwhelmed with myregular social media.
Last I checked, I posted, likeMarch of last year, on my own
(31:30):
personal Instagram and it waslike a photo dump Part one.
It said Where's part two?
We have implications for more.
Anyways, all that to say, myemail it's lisarivera at
suffolkedu Best place right now.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Great and I will put that in the show notes.
So anybody, if you're drivingright now, don't worry, it's in
the show notes.
You can find it later, as wellas a link to your LinkedIn
profile that you'll probablyupdate as the minute you get off
this call with me Totally.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
It's not a winter break or spring objective at all
.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
There you go.
There you go, because I willpost this on LinkedIn so people
can find the episode.
They're all going to know.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, actually it's a good thing.
They'll be like wait why I'vebeen in her inbox or request for
a while it's me.
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm just overwhelmed withonline media sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Lisa, thank you so much.
This has been a greatconversation.
I've enjoyed like hearing aboutyour journey and and and your
experiences as a first genworking with first gen and the
advice that you shared, as wellas the strengths that you feel
that you and the first genstudents you work with have,
because I'm in a hundred percentagreement with pretty much
(32:42):
everything that you said.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
So Well, thank you for having me, thank you for
taking the time.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, and keep that enthusiasm.
Do not let anybody look at youand say, why are you so
enthusiastic?
Just bring it, because we'regoing to need that Next couple
of years.
We're going to need all theenthusiasm we can get.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
For sure, I agree 100%.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, well, thank you .
And hey, for those of you whoare listening, I would love it
if you would subscribe andlisten to this podcast and share
it with other first genprofessionals both in high
school and in college, share itwith those avid folks that you
know who may be looking to hearabout the success of an avid
student.
But I would appreciate that somuch.
(33:22):
And, as always, you can reachme at Jen that's J-E-N at
firstjenfmcom, and I would loveto hear from you if you want to
be on the podcast or if you justhave questions or topics you
want me to talk about.
So thank you so much forjoining me today and I will see
you next week.
I keep threatening them thatI'm going to go on TikTok, but
(33:50):
I'm a little afraid I'm going tobecome famous and so I'm
hesitant, and they just laugh.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
You would be famous, Jen.
You absolutely would be.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Oh goodness, be careful what you wish for right.
Welcome and welcome back to the First Gen FM podcast
, where we high school andcollege educators strengthen,
celebrate and supportfirst-generation college and
college-bound students.
I'm Jennifer Schoen, your host.
Please call me Jen.
I'd love it if you could leavea review and a rating for this
podcast to help other educatorsfind us.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to do that.
(00:27):
Now let's dive into this week'sepisode.
Today I'm talking to Lisa Rivera, who is the inaugural director
of First Generation StudentInitiatives, a member of the
Center for First Generation andEducational Equity at Suffolk
University in the great city ofBoston, where she leads
initiatives to enhanceprogramming and support for
(00:47):
first-generation students,faculty and staff.
A first-generation college gradand avid Advancement Via
Individual Determination alumna,lisa has a bachelor's degree in
communication, arts and women'sstudies from Allegheny College
and a master's in educationalleadership and policy studies
with a concentration in highered administration from Boston
(01:07):
University.
She's an advocate forfirst-generation students, has
advised Tri-Alpha chapters, theNational Honor Society for
first-gen college students atboth Boston and Suffolk
universities, and championsfirst-generation programming for
faculty and staff audiences.
So I'm delighted to welcomeLisa Rivera to talk with us
(01:28):
today.
Hey, welcome, lisa, to theFirst Gen FM podcast.
I am really excited to talk toyou today about being first-gen,
not just in college but for allways, and how that identity
kind of helps with transitions,and you know transitions to
college, transitions to careerand even your journey through
(01:52):
all of those things.
So why don't we just start withthat, like, tell me about your
journey to college as afirst-gen student.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Sure, well, thank you for having me, jen.
It's always nice to see you atother meetings and conferences
because you're just such a fun,genuine energy.
So just before we start theconversation, I did want to put
that out there.
I always like connecting withyou.
Thank you, I appreciate it, ofcourse.
So my first-gen journey Okay, Iam originally from St
Petersburg, florida, in theTampa Bay area, and I had a lot
(02:21):
of family growing up in theCleveland area in Ohio.
So you know bucket that for alittle bit later in the
wraparound conversation.
But in my high school I had aprogram called AVID, which
stands for Advancement ViaIndividual Determinism.
I think I love AVID.
Yes, you know about AVID, I do.
Oh, not everybody does.
(02:41):
Okay, that brings me so muchjoy, truthfully.
But so I was an Avid kid whereI don't.
I met another program actuallythe other day and I was
reminiscing.
They were asking me questionsabout like what do you remember
from the program?
And I remember having the bigbinders to walk around with and
back in my day we still hadtextbooks.
So we had a huge binder alongwith all of these textbooks in
(03:01):
our backpack and that was likethe thing that connected all of
us for Avid, but apparentlyeverything's online now, so then
I didn't need to worry aboutthat part, which was a real
shocker for me in the moment.
I was like I didn't think thatthat was that outdated.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But and they also don't build up strong muscles
from carrying those things allaround either.
Where's that?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
back muscle resiliency yes, it's just not
there Right.
So at least we benefitedsomehow from it.
But so I joined that program mysophomore year and I had the
same teacher all throughout AVID.
Her name at the time was MsDennison.
I think now she's Mrs Lee, butSarah Dennison is how I knew her
and she was just and still kindof is actually everything that
(03:41):
I ever really aspired to be,because she was so kind to all
of her students, like stillplayful and joking around but
really pushed us when she knewthat we were capable of so much
more and really just wanted thebest for us, whatever that
looked like, whatever decisionwe made at the end of the day.
So she's someone I look back onfondly all the time when I
think about just the work thatwe're doing in first gen broadly
(04:03):
.
So I will probably forward herthis episode, anyways.
So we had a project in highschool in that program and we
had to choose a college from thebook Colleges.
That Changed Lives and one ofthe colleges ended up being
Allegheny College and I had twoalumni at my high school and I
didn't even know about it at thetime.
One was associated with AVID,one was one of the college
(04:24):
counselors.
I think I didn't even knowabout it at the time.
One was associated with AVID,one was one of the college
counselors, I think.
And I remember just I rememberresearching Allegheny and I
loved everything about it.
I loved all the majors, I lovedthe environment there and it
ended up being in a suburb ofPittsburgh, pennsylvania.
It was like right in betweenPittsburgh and Cleveland, and so
one of my big goals was to becloser to my family in Cleveland
, because we would only go acouple of summers out of the
(04:44):
year and I kind of wanted tomake up for lost time with my
cousins.
I I, yeah, even though I'm anonly child and like a small
cohort, is in Florida, bigfamily person in that regard.
So I, yeah, I remember onlyapplying to Allegheny and maybe
two other colleges in FloridaOne denied me and one I didn't
(05:04):
even complete the applicationfor, truthfully.
And I got my acceptance letterto Allegheny on Christmas Eve
and I remember seeing apersonalized letter that
referred to my involvement intheater as a big theater kid and
just really excited that Iwould join.
I don't know if they madepersonalized letters for
everybody, but to me as a seniorin high school I was like this
(05:24):
is amazing.
And so yeah, and then fromthere just obviously finished
out senior year, went over toMeadville and then the fun began
at Allegheny.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
What was that transition like?
Like was it everything youexpected?
Was it better, worse?
Like what was your mindsetgoing in?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I was very excited because I got to be independent
and fully on my own and fartheraway from home like very far
away from home but still withinarm's reach, in a sense of
family in Cleveland.
So I was very excited aboutthat.
But when I got there, very muchfull of energy and all of that.
But then I think after sometime my cat's running in the
(06:05):
background ferociously, so Isorry I she's so loud to me but
you might not be able to hearher.
I actually do.
No, not a peep.
Oh yeah, she's there, she'sthere doing her thing.
But after the excitementsettled I did.
I started to feel moreoverwhelmed with just either
managing my own time or notknowing what the next best step
(06:27):
was to do to reach out foroffice hours and I also think I
don't know if it's stillconsidered a PWI or if it
technically was considered a PWIwhen I was there.
But it felt like I was at apredominantly white institution
and my family's from Puerto Rico.
So it was coming from my ownexperiences and jumping into a
new institution and a wholesystem to navigate on top of
(06:48):
just really feeling not in myelement.
And St Pete was so culturallydiverse, let alone economically
but very culturally diverse.
My high school was yeah, Iremember that being one of the
things in high school there, butanyways.
So I made friends eventuallyand it was nice to kind of open
up about some things that I wasexperiencing.
(07:10):
But I don't think that firstyear I had made a friend.
That was also first gen.
So it was also a little bitdifficult to feel comfortable
opening up about it becauseoftentimes I felt like I would
be the only one.
And you know, today we now talkabout first gen more.
There's a whole national centerright Dedicated to getting all
this knowledge and research andall those things.
(07:30):
But you know there was muchmore, I would say, in my
experience, a stigma aroundthrowing that out there because
it meant that, oh well, yourfamily didn't have either like
the funds to go previously.
So what kind of household didyou grow up in, or those kinds
of things.
So it definitely took some timeto adjust.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
So what did you end up majoring in?
Did you major in theater?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
No, I didn't.
I was in the theater building,though.
I majored in communication artsand then we were required at
Allegheny to minor and it had tobe something that was outside
of like whatever I forgot it washad to be like
interdisciplinary sort of ohokay, that's not quite the
language for it.
All that to say, I minored inwomen's studies, but they
changed it to, I think, genderand sexuality studies women's
(08:18):
gender and sexuality studiesright after I left Allegheny.
So my degree probably sayssomething a little bit different
.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
But yeah, okay, so, all right.
So here you are.
Then you you made thetransition to college.
You're like I'm in my major,I'm making friends, I'm being
involved, um, but then you haveto make another transition as a
first gen so you're still thesame identity into a career.
So what happened next?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So what happened next ?
Oh well, I remember being, fromsophomore year to senior year,
a tour guide at admissions andthen eventually a guidance
counselor's assistant my senioryear and it was known as the
best job on campus and I lovedit.
I loved giving tours.
I love learning about thehistory of Allegheny.
I loved just all this likerah-rah behind it and feeling
(09:03):
really enthusiastic about likebeing in this space to really
learn and grow and questionthings.
So that's where I kind of foundlove with higher ed, cheesily
through college doors.
But I did not intern at allthroughout college.
I didn't intern because Iworked at the restaurant that I
had always worked at since I wasin high school.
It's kind of like a Texasroadhouse, but the Florida
(09:24):
version.
It was called Cody's Roadhouseand I loved working there every
summer.
I got to see friends that Iwould leave and come back to and
all that.
But I got to save money for theupcoming academic year for
different things that would comeup, basic things, and I was in
a sorority in school too.
So that was my way of paying mydues on my own, my dues and all
(09:47):
that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So luckily Allegheny was sosmall that the Greek life
environment was very differentthan some of the larger
institutions, especially in theSouth.
It was much more like my bestfriends were in sororities that
weren't mine.
Anyways, all of that to sayGreek life was very different.
It was much more chill atAllegheny, but anyway.
So, yeah, I did an intern.
I just worked throughout thesummers so I didn't have like
real working experience andsomething that I could use after
(10:10):
with my degree.
But at the time everybody said,oh, you're in communication arts
, so marketing is the way to goor public relations is the way
to go.
There was always thisassumption that that's what you
do, at least in the world.
That's at the time what wasassumed.
But I never.
I was never really kind of mycalling.
I loved public relations at onepoint because I think I liked
(10:31):
the idea of it as this like girlboss kind of coming into their
own, but that was just never mypersonality also.
So I ended up moving home for ayear and working at the same
restaurant and I got tobasically spend more time with
my parents and get some of thattime back, since I was gone for
so long and I was originallysupposed to move to Pittsburgh
(10:55):
or the greater Pittsburgh area,um, and that that fell through.
That that, uh, experience fellthrough.
So, um, my best girlfriends andI said we wanted to move to a
big city, but we didn't want NewYork because that felt quite
too big, but we wanted just abrand new slate.
And one was coming fromCleveland, one was coming from
Chicago and then me from St Pete.
We said Boston, it's going tobe it.
(11:16):
There's alumni there that wedidn't even really think about.
Yeah, I know, right, and it's abig enough city to where you
know we can go.
We don't have as many otherresponsibilities or ties at this
point in our lives.
We were very lucky, becausethat's not the case for so many
people at our age at the time.
Right, yeah, we recognize that.
But then we moved up here and Iremember temping at an
(11:38):
organization.
I don't remember exactly whatthey did.
It was like research for legalcases maybe.
So, you know, cool organizationbut much more corporate than my
, my personality.
I guess we'll just call it that.
I remember this was soembarrassing.
But I remind students of thisstory too because they can learn
from it.
I attempted that agency when wefirst moved here because I
didn't apply or didn't hear backabout any higher ed jobs that I
(12:01):
applied to.
I ended up applying to jobs andadmissions with my experience
from undergrad.
So I worked at this temp agencyand I remember telling the
person who was kind of like ourgo-to boss, hey, is it okay if I
leave a little bit early onthis day, I can come in either
earlier or stay a little bitlater.
Another day I have an interviewfor another job, so I just want
(12:22):
to make sure I'm getting myhours in and all of that.
And I remember her looking atme a little bit more confused,
like why would you tell mesomething like this?
And I remember her also sayingyou know what your contract
stipulates, right?
Like you know what you'reobligated to do.
And I was like, oh yeah, and inmy mind I'm like this is
temporary.
We both an understanding thatthis is temporary.
I'm clearly going to be lookingfor other jobs that are
(12:43):
permanent and so on and so forth.
And I think that was like middleof the week.
And then by the end of thatweek I got a call from the temp
agency saying that they areletting me go because of, like
an Excel speaking of Excelspreadsheets, some issue with me
in Excel and I don't remember,using Excel, I might've sent an
incorrect email to somebody,which was a mistake, and that's
(13:06):
true I did mess up on that, butnothing wild like that.
But I know that it had to dowith actually being open about
it, because I got a follow-upinterview that I again
communicated to them about andshe was still like why?
Yeah, exactly.
So, anyways, all that to say, Ilost that job and I ended up
(13:28):
getting the job that I wasinterviewing for, which was an
admissions and student affairsrepresentative at Boston
University's dental school onthe medical campus in the South
End, and I was there for sevenyears and I just continued my
love of higher ed there.
So it worked out in the end.
But a lot of risky businesswith the move and not having
visited Boston or seen ourapartment that we signed up for
(13:49):
or had a job lined up.
So that's major and I wouldn'tencourage that for everybody,
necessarily, but it worked outand I but I do encourage people
to keep some of theirinformation to themselves when
it comes to temp jobs like thehard way.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
But what a risk taker you know to just be like, okay,
we're picking Boston, I mean,you were going at least with two
other people.
So you're like I have a homebase, I have people, and then no
job.
But then you got a tempposition so you did something so
that you would work there.
That's that.
I think that's very brave tojust kind of jump out like that
(14:26):
as a first gen student.
I guess, I guess, but you'renot a student now.
So we need we need more wordslike as a first gen professional
, as a first gen, you know, inhigher ed, what.
How does it feel to be a firstgen in higher ed and how does
your experience then kind ofinform what you do working with
students?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, I, this is a really good question because I
feel like we we talk about it insome of our communities and our
groups.
We don't always talk about it,you know, as we have talked
about in other meetings andother spaces.
You know, the first genidentity never leaves you.
You kind of remain first genfor the rest of your life and
that's not a scary thing butit's just kind of the reality of
(15:07):
life and your situation.
So, being a student and thenturning around to then work in
higher ed, we have an experiencein the sense of now knowing
what a registrar's office is,because before you get to school
, right, you're like what is aregistrar's office or at least I
did and or what are officehours, all those things.
So you have an understanding ofsome of those basics.
(15:28):
But now you're working behindthe scenes and you're working
within those systems and if youdidn't understand something
before and you graduated notknowing, like the why behind
something, then you're stillentering a brand new industry,
regardless of whether you were astudent there, without really
understanding that why also.
So I think we'll always havethat motivation and that
(15:55):
curiosity and the desire to askquestions, having been first gen
and then working in higher ed.
But it's a double-edged sword.
I love it because you get tosee students who you feel like
have a little bit of you in them, that similarity finally
reached that point of successfor graduation, or maybe they
got their dream internship, ormaybe they're just having a
really good day and that's allit takes and you feel so much
(16:19):
joy from that.
It's just joyful to see peopleexperience joy also.
But it's a double-edged swordbecause on top of that you do
have expectations still workingin the industry to know all of
the things.
And we don't know all of thethings.
And sometimes people who arecontinuing gen not even first
gen still don't know all of thethings.
So you ask questions but thensometimes you're labeled as the
(16:40):
person who has too manyquestions.
Or you want to get into thiscommittee or this group because
it really excites you and youwant to do something that's more
than just your everyday job.
But joining an industry for thefirst time and having that
excitement, I think for somepeople not everybody but feels a
little uncomfortable and likeit's threatening to the status
quo of what is and what hasalways been.
But that's so vital foranything new to happen, for
(17:04):
anything to grow.
So it's tough because itdiminishes.
Sometimes it feels like, oh mygosh, like what am I doing here?
I'm not progressing in the sameways I wanted and I just wanted
this one piece of joy to be apart of this one group or this
one thing.
And it's tough when you're firststarting out because it's a
little bit threatening.
But I also think that we asfirst gens always have a strong
(17:28):
sense of justice in somecapacity, sense of justice in
some capacity.
So that kind of resistance wefeel sometimes is, in my
experience at least, used asmore motivation to be consistent
, to find some otheropportunities, maybe outside of
your everyday, that lets youexperience and do the things
that you'd like to do andcontinue to ask those questions
because eventually something'sgoing to give, Eventually
(17:51):
something is going to move inthe direction that you've been
trying to move and that'll opena new door and opportunity.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I love that.
I love that you're talkingabout the strengths that
first-gen students bring toeducation our profession, but to
a profession in general, thatasking questions, that curiosity
, but to a profession in general, that asking questions, that
curiosity.
I mean, I've had professorstell me that they love having
(18:18):
first-gen students in theirclass because they the way she
put it is like a lot of otherstudents have, you know, learned
like this is the way to dothings and this is how you ask
questions.
But a first-gen student mightnot have had that in their high
school, for whatever reason.
And so they just come up andthey ask these questions and you
suddenly have to think ofthings in a different way and
this professor was just like soexcited.
(18:39):
She's like what can I do?
How can I get more first-genstudents in my class?
Um, but I think that curiosityis so key.
I love that, that it'sresilience.
But it's in a way that you weretalking about too, like I want
to do these things, but if Ican't do them directly, I'm
going to have a workaround tolike go under over around.
(19:00):
You know, I'm going to figureout how I can get that and how I
can find joy in doing what itis that I do.
So I, I, I love those two.
You know that you really talkedabout there that resilience
piece and that curiosity piece,because I think that's so true.
I see that all the time.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, and I think I mean I love the enthusiasm, but
I do know exactly what you'retalking about.
Some people are like whoa, whyare you so enthusiastic about
this?
We're just trying to getsomething done.
It's like no, definitely we allhave objectives to beat.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's like no, it's like, Definitely, we all have
objectives to beat, for sure,but you're, you're totally right
Like there's sometimes so muchmore to it than just a checkbox
you know, and that's significant.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
So yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
That's great, but I love that.
So when you're working withyour students, do you?
How do you prepare them forthat transition to their first
job?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That's a good question, either internship or
job, yeah, yeah, Kind of some ofthe things that we were just
talking about about askingquestions, ask away.
It's tough to be labeled asthat individual sometimes that
has too many questions, but it'sfor a reason, right.
And the other thing is you'rethere to ask those questions.
That's part of the purpose ofthis.
If an internship or a new jobchances are, it's for a reason
right.
(20:14):
And the other thing is you'rethere to ask those questions.
That's part of the purpose ofthis.
If an internship or a new jobchances are, it's probably entry
level.
So there's going to be so manymore learning experiences and
opportunities from that.
So being on a college campus orgoing to your first entry level
job, those are the places tomaybe mess up for a little bit.
Also right To then grow andlearn from it for there.
(20:35):
But sometimes it's down to thebasics of just it feels a little
silly to dress up, especiallynowadays.
I think we've gotten a little.
Me too.
I'm in the same boat of being alittle bit more lax and things
like that.
But I've noticed with thatthose reminders just become so
much more important because weare so used to being caught up
in kind of our everyday of ease,but we're there to kind of
(20:58):
bring our A game.
So that, yes, includes askingquestions, but that also
includes building out yournetwork too.
So, you know, commingling withsome of your colleagues in the
same positions, interning ornewbies at the organization,
there's so much to learn fromeven your peers, not just people
who are in higher positions.
So, and those are the peoplethat are going to be going
(21:18):
through life with you in a senseright, Whether they, working in
another organization or not,like you, have so much in common
in a sense, not all the time,but in a sense, and it's it's
just nice to turn around and totalk to somebody about your
experience that can relate towhat you're going through.
Chances are, regardless ofwhether they're first gen or not
, there's something there.
But in addition to that, ofcourse, talking to your boss a
(21:42):
little bit more to hear abouttheir experiences, or beyond
that, Because, even if it's notjust a task about like, how do I
do X, Y and Z in my job, lifeexperience and life mantras, all
of that comes from people atthese other organizations that
you'll be jumping into for thefirst time, and I think life
wisdom is just as important, ifnot sometimes even more
(22:04):
important than the tangiblethings of how to do your job or
what do you need to tack off abox of a list?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
you know.
Yes, I agree, I mean, in someways people use the word power
skill, soft skills, but I liketo call them power skills
because I think they're soimportant and I think asking
questions is one of those, likepower skills, that curiosity
piece.
So let me ask you this so howdo you teach, or do you teach,
(22:33):
or what do you think aboutteaching students how to ask
questions?
So you know they're not justgoing in like you know, tell me
about this.
It's more of a trying to getthe information they want, but
doing it in a professional way.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, that's another good question.
You know it's simple, but it'sstill a challenge, right.
Turning to your roommate orturning to another peer and
sometimes saying things out loudand registering it like whoa,
that's a little off-putting, orwhoa, that's a little.
Whatever are, your friend mightbe like well, wait, wait, wait,
(23:11):
wait, a minute.
Actually, like this is, this isa little sus, you know what I
mean.
So there's, you know, peer topeer and all of that, but
there's an entire resourcecenter or a department all
dedicated to this kind ofpreparation through things like
a career center, for example.
And because being first gen ismuch more of a hot topic now, I
think a lot of directors, otherstaff in those centers are
(23:34):
becoming attuned to some ofthese questions that they might
have, or some of theseinexperience or experience in
other ways we'll call it toowith how to communicate and how
to ask questions, especiallybecause this generation of
students lived through COVID ina much different way than what
we did.
You know, it's nice to lookback at some similarities and
stories that we have that mightresonate with some of our
(23:54):
students, but at the same time,they lived a completely
different life and way of beingin a time when we were probably
learning how to be more tactfulin, like, a high school setting,
it just didn't really line upright.
So, in addition to the buzzwordbeing the buzzword for first
gen knowing that there's muchmore research and literature
even though it's still comingout, but that's out there about
(24:16):
high school students that arenow first gen students in
college, and what does that meancompared to their COVID
experience, how to communicateand how to really have your
messaging resonate with them.
So it's twofold it'scomfortable turning to you're,
it's comfortable turning to yourfriend and practicing, but
using those resources.
That's what they're there for.
That is their job.
(24:37):
That is why your college oruniversity has dedicated time
and resources and funding behindthis.
Like, take advantage of thatresource to its end, because
your tuition dollars go to ittoo.
It affects you.
Like, yes, use it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I love, love that.
I love the idea that, likepractice on your peers because
they can tell you if, like, whoa, that's yeah, like you said,
that's off-putting or that was,that was a great question, um,
and then career we calleverybody calls it something
different career development,career design, the career center
, uh, all these different names.
But to use them earlier, eventhan they think they need to,
(25:13):
like don't just show up yoursenior year, like, go now.
Yeah, I also think you know,for us is to role model, that
asking questions is okay, it's asign of strength, so that we
ask them questions, you know,based on their experience, to
get more information from them,about them, about their
interests, but also toappreciate.
(25:35):
When they ask us questions, Ialways like to say you know,
thanks for reaching out, orthat's a great question, and
then you know my answer, just sothey know like yeah, you're
like, oh, you're not botheringme.
Yeah, I'm here to answer yourquestions, so I'm so glad you
asked.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, and you're right.
Your point is about the onusbeing on us to an extent for
faculty and staff.
We're also meant to fosterthose relationships and build
that bridge for comfortability,and without little things like
one sentence acknowledgement inan email or leaving your office
door open even though you mightbe really busy catching up on
some other projects.
But if a student wants to justpop in and, you know, talk to
(26:14):
you for a bit, little thingslike that, those are our
responsibility to your point andit adds to that as well.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, yeah, so what advice do you have for us, for
me, for all of you out therelistening about keeping that
identity as first gen Like?
What are, what are some of yourthoughts on that and how can we
pay more attention to that?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
And institutions are becoming more aware of the fact
that we hold this identitybeyond just our four years of
undergrad or so, and so they'rebuilding spaces for community
and to engage with one another,from first gen to first gen
faculty and staff.
Other institutions are alsodoing that as well.
That's so important, even ifit's not, you know, a webinar or
(27:13):
like a formal conversation,open during a lunch hour for
faculty and staff to learn, butjust an open space for people to
be like, hey, like we havelunch, coming into this space,
come meet other first-genfaculty and staff and what have
you.
That's really important becausein those conversations too, is
where, yes, we talk about thethings that resonate with both
of our stories, but more ideasabout how to move forward or new
programming to have for facultyand staff to stay connected or
(27:35):
to engage with students who arealso first gen.
All of that happens withinthese little community
networking bubbles to keeppushing forward with the work.
So I definitely think that'sone thing.
I think also working with theNational Center First Gen
Forward, who is just the leaderin all things first gen in a lot
(27:55):
of ways right, they have aplethora of resources through an
entire journal dedicated toresearch and journal articles,
but other little hubs for eitherlike conferences or local
conferences or not bulletinboards.
But other little hubs foreither like conferences or local
conferences or not bulletinboards but like online boards
where different conversationshappen when you're involved in
their organization.
So to your point.
I actually think that's reallygood.
(28:16):
That's a good opportunity forthose that are maybe earlier in
their career, know what theywant and don't really have the
ability within their everydayrole to do something like that,
pushing to get involved in someway, even if it's being like a
program reader or something likethat for a conference where
you're building thoseexperiences.
I mean, I guess this is morerelated to like doing first gen
(28:37):
work specifically, but even as afirst gen professional doing
first gen work, reading thefirst gen program reviews.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
I mean, that's such a great way, an easy way to stay
connected if you're part of thatorganization, that's you know
at looking for reviewers.
That's like such a nice andlow-key way to kind of get
involved, right, yeah, greatidea.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
I.
I know it's tough because ourschedules can be busy and we're
at this point getting to theyear where it's like, all right,
we're also ready for theholidays, just like the students
are ready to be.
So I can relate, I'm ready to,but yeah, it's just, it's it's
staying in forward, especiallyas more research comes out about
how COVID affected our students, or maybe how COVID affected us
(29:20):
as first gen professionals.
What does that look like?
Right and and kind of goingfrom there.
I think those leaders arereally good in in creating the
knowledge that we need, butbringing it back more locally to
have something like a simplecohort of faculty and staff that
get together every so often forfirst-gens.
That's, that's really importanttoo.
(29:41):
That's where the ideas happen,the further connections, all of
that.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So and that's where you find out too, on your campus
.
If a lot of people have thesame idea and if they don't know
what each other is doing yeah,yeah, like what.
You have scholarships,first-gen students Like wait,
like how can I help?
Or what can I do, and somebodyelse comes up with an idea.
You're like, oh, I've had thatidea too, and then you have more
(30:12):
people who can work on it, andwithout those gatherings, you
just don't get a chance to dothat which you know.
I would like to do more of onmy campus for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, yeah, we I'm blanking on what the larger
initiative is called right now,but it's coming from our
diversity and inclusion officeat Suffolk but there are just
basically like different smallercohorts that are more like
cultural and identity based thatwe have across the university
for faculty and staff and we'vebeen talking about creating one
for first gen.
So right there with you oftrying to bring something to
(30:39):
flourishing and maybe even ifit's easier for others on their
campus to attach on a concept oranything like that that's
already on their campus andthat's like adjacent, to make it
first gen, then that might makeit easier to get buy-in from
other campus partners.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
So yeah, Love that, Love that.
How can people reach you ifthey have questions?
If they're like Ooh, I likewhat's going on at Suffolk or
that piece you said, like I wantmore, how can they reach out to
you?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, I I'm fine with a direct email right now.
I know LinkedIn is great and Idefinitely get my LinkedIn as
well, though that's anotherplace to to connect, but I have
to admit I have not been thebest with LinkedIn this past
academic year.
I think my blurb is outdated.
I I get overwhelmed with myregular social media.
Last I checked, I posted, likeMarch of last year, on my own
(31:30):
personal Instagram and it waslike a photo dump Part one.
It said Where's part two?
We have implications for more.
Anyways, all that to say, myemail it's lisarivera at
suffolkedu Best place right now.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Great and I will put that in the show notes.
So anybody, if you're drivingright now, don't worry, it's in
the show notes.
You can find it later, as wellas a link to your LinkedIn
profile that you'll probablyupdate as the minute you get off
this call with me Totally.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
It's not a winter break or spring objective at all
.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
There you go.
There you go, because I willpost this on LinkedIn so people
can find the episode.
They're all going to know.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, actually it's a good thing.
They'll be like wait why I'vebeen in her inbox or request for
a while it's me.
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm just overwhelmed withonline media sometimes.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Lisa, thank you so much.
This has been a greatconversation.
I've enjoyed like hearing aboutyour journey and and and your
experiences as a first genworking with first gen and the
advice that you shared, as wellas the strengths that you feel
that you and the first genstudents you work with have,
because I'm in a hundred percentagreement with pretty much
(32:42):
everything that you said.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
So Well, thank you for having me, thank you for
taking the time.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, and keep that enthusiasm.
Do not let anybody look at youand say, why are you so
enthusiastic?
Just bring it, because we'regoing to need that Next couple
of years.
We're going to need all theenthusiasm we can get.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
For sure, I agree 100%.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, well, thank you .
And hey, for those of you whoare listening, I would love it
if you would subscribe andlisten to this podcast and share
it with other first genprofessionals both in high
school and in college, share itwith those avid folks that you
know who may be looking to hearabout the success of an avid
student.
But I would appreciate that somuch.
(33:22):
And, as always, you can reachme at Jen that's J-E-N at
firstjenfmcom, and I would loveto hear from you if you want to
be on the podcast or if you justhave questions or topics you
want me to talk about.
So thank you so much forjoining me today and I will see
you next week.
I keep threatening them thatI'm going to go on TikTok, but
(33:50):
I'm a little afraid I'm going tobecome famous and so I'm
hesitant, and they just laugh.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
You would be famous, Jen.
You absolutely would be.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Oh goodness, be careful what you wish for right.
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