How UT Helps First-Generation Students Navigate College

Growing up in San Antonio, I never believed college was possible for me. Neither my parents nor my brothers attended a four-year university. I had never screamed Texas Fight at the top of my lungs until my freshman year. That day, I threw my horns up alongside the sea of cheering Longhorns and giant foam fingers, and I couldn’t help but feel emotional at how far I had come.

In high school, I worked at restaurants, ran school organizations, and graduated with more than 500 volunteer hours. I didn’t do this to make my college application look better, I did it because I wanted to. In fact, I never had a serious college in mind until the summer before my senior year when I set my sights on UT’s School of Journalism and Media. I always loved to write and I wanted to share other people’s stories. When it came time to graduate, my hard work paid off: I finished in the top 2% of my senior class and would soon become a Longhorn.  

When I arrived in Austin, I quickly realized that I wasn’t alone in my experience. UT is home to more than 10,000 first-generation college students—often with stories like mine—making up about 23% of the total undergraduate population. First Gen Longhorns, a program within the Office of the Dean of Students, is aware of the distinct hurdles facing students like me and provides campus resources, organizes celebratory events, and acts as a voice for the community it serves.  

Kayleigh Damphousse, the former associate director of First Gen Longhorns, led the organization’s annual programming. “It’s really easy as a first-generation college student to feel isolated because you feel like you’re the only one living this experience,” she says. “But whenever you are able to form communities—you make it feel like you’re not alone in this process, and you find people that have been through what you’ve been through.”

One of the experiences curated for first-generation students to interact with one another is a Living Learning Community, or LLC. LLCs are on-campus residential communities designed in partnership with University Housing and Dining that allow students with similar interests or backgrounds to live near each other, while receiving peer mentorship, social opportunities, and academic support.    

“Peer mentorship is shown to be one of the most valuable things that students can have for their personal success and feeling like they’re connected on campus—and that helps them feel like they belong at UT,” Damphousse says.  

Participants in the LLC program also receive guidance from faculty and staff who were first-gen students themselves, except they are now referred to as “first-gen graduates,” according to Damphousse. Talking to peers gives students connections to people they can relate to, while speaking to faculty offers insight into future goals.  

“Mentorship shows students that there are people on campus who care about them and who can develop a real relationship with them as they are just learning how to do college for the first time,” Damphousse says.

As part of a week-long celebration, First Gen Longhorns partners with several departments on campus to recognize their students in what’s called the First-Gen Celebration that takes place in front of the Tower. This year, the event featured live music, speeches, food, and fun merch, plus tabling from programs such as UTLA, UTNY, and Latino Studies.

Ammad Hasan, a senior public health major who joined the First Gen Longhorns mentee program as a freshman, delivered the final speech of the day to hundreds of students. Hasan became a mentor himself and started coaching other first-gen students in his sophomore year. He credits the support system for his own growth and success.

“I call this community my home. I have made life-long friends here, and I feel like I would’ve felt so lost,” Hasan says. “First Gen Longhorns provided me with that compass.  It provided me with opportunities, and it provided me with support.”

I agree with Hasan, navigating college life  is not a seamless process, especially as a nontraditional student. I stumbled through registration, downplayed my accomplishments, and fell silent when my peers discussed their parents’ education or esteemed careers. I wasn’t ashamed of my story, but I felt lost too.

“I learned to grow and not let myself just stick to plans written by 18-year-old me, now that I’m 22,” Hasan says.  

I’m only in my second year of college, but I can confidently say I’ve grown as a student and a person. There’s comfort in knowing there’s a community full of resources to help me thrive and take on new perspectives. I’ve learned to communicate with my professors, manage my schedule, and speak up at tables that used to make me feel out of place. With each passing day, I’m carving a new legacy for my family, and most importantly myself.

I get so excited meeting other first-gen students and discussing our future goals, knowing that we have the opportunity to see them come to fruition. The connection I feel to UT and my fellow students fills me with the same overwhelming emotion of Longhorn pride that I felt at that first football game.  

CREDIT: Gianna DiPasquale