The University of Memphis offers resources such as scholarships, programs and student organizations for students of any race, background or any other characteristic, but individuals categorized as first-generation college students sometimes struggle for success.
First-generation students at the U of M have earned lower GPAs compared to those students who have had both parents complete college, according to the U of M office of Institutional Research. Students who had both parents complete college have an overall cumulative 3.05 GPA, those who had one parent complete college have a cumulative 2.88 GPA, and first-generation students have an average cumulative 2.83 GPA, according to the office of Institutional Research and statistics from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The U of M offers many resources and scholarships in order to satisfy the needs of first-generation students, like the First Scholars Program, which aims to improve the graduation rate of first-generation college students and to prepare them for success after graduation. More than 40 percent of the 21,521 undergraduate students enrolled at the university in fall 2017 were first-generation students, according to information from the program.
Jacki Rodriguez, First Scholars Program and Opportunity Scholars Program coordinator at the U of M, works with first-generation students to help them be successful during and after college. She was a first-generation student when she started at the U of M in 1999, so she said she uses personal experience to help students gain a better understanding.
“I know the hardship, the confusion, and how it feels to be overwhelmed by all of the information that can come at you when you are the first in your family to attend college,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the First Scholars program is “more than just a scholarship.” She said students need more than money to succeed in college and life.
“They want to succeed, and they do so at every level,” Rodriguez said. “They require our support as staff and as peers, and they are looking for ways to be involved and connected to the university.”
Rodriguez’s students said they want other students at the university to know they are like all other students. Rodriguez met students like junior history major Mikayla Adams and motivated her to continue. Rodriguez likes helping them with more than just raising their GPA.
“I knew from the beginning that college was going to be a difficult transition for me because I didn’t know anyone who had attended college,” Adams said.
Adams said she does not allow the struggles of achieving at the U of M make her part of a statistic of failure. She said she knows having resources available for students like her gives her motivation to keep going.
“Having the other scholars and coordinators to lean on is the reason I didn’t drop out when things got hard,” Adams said.
A student’s family can also motivate first-generation students to achieve in college. Rachel Storley, a hospitality and resource management major, said these students work harder because they do not know people who have been to college, so they can only rely on themselves.
“I believe we work harder to graduate because we want to make our family proud to have a graduate in the family,” Storley said.
