Marielena Moreno is a student staff member that has been with ETS for five years. She has been instrumental in our ETS program, helping out in every aspect: processing applications, after school club mentor, office administration, teaching a Middle School Summer Program class, going on out of state college visits, and training many students and staff members in certain areas as she has been with ETS longer than any other staff member or student staff.
As a part of Marielena's Senior Seminar, she wrote a capstone titled, "Belonging on Campus as a First-Generation Student". Her capstone talks about the importance of mentoring programs such as TRIO's Student Support Services and the William H. Thompson Learning Community for minority students. We are incredibly proud of her for all of her amazing accomplishments and encourage you to read a summary of her capstone below.
Belonging on Campus as a First-Generation Student
Marielena Moreno
SOCI 489: Senior Seminar
Being a first-generation student at a University campus comes with various barriers. The feeling of belonging refers to feeling like part of a community and having the support that you need to feel successful while at the University. I hypothesize that support programs in education increase the feeling of belonging. The obstacles that most minority groups face are related to a lack of knowledge and imposter syndrome. For minority groups, we are looking at first-generation, low-income, ethnic groups, and students with disabilities. College is a multistep process that is not discussed and is harder to navigate when not spoken about in their everyday lives. The goal of mentors on campus is to come across as trustworthy to their students (Whitcomb, Cwik, and Singh, 2021). Regardless of the age difference between the support person and the student, there needs to be a foundation of trust. According to the article by Basset, programs that are aimed at helping low-income and first-generation students succeed in college have also helped them resolve social and structural barriers (2021). Understanding the need and potential outcomes of support programming is beneficial to understanding the overall feeling of belonging on campus. The programs provide a sense of security when experiencing the transition to college. The resources have a standard and simple way to pass along information. Incoming students want to be surrounded by people and resources that will be helpful while also understandable (Hoxby and Turner, 2015). There is an eagerness to enroll in programs that provide resources along with the easygoing aspect. Having interactions on campus offers them security and a sense of belonging. This has a positive effect on whether that student progresses well at University. When taking part in a support program there are more students involved. Seeing recognizable faces on campus is part of the social connection the students require when thinking of belonging. A majority of the respondents indicated that they participate in mentoring programs. The two programs that they indicated they participate more in are Student Support Services and the William H. Thompson Learning Community. Both of the previously stated programs have a holistic stance in the way they interact with the students. They focus on the student's academic life and experience, and also their personal, career, and short-term goals. The biggest takeaway from completing this research was that students benefit when they are part of a mentoring program. When students are comfortable around other peers, that have similar lifestyles and ways of living there is a sense of security. Another contributing factor could be due to the easy access to resources. There is a comfort and ability to ask for help. Rather than taking time to seek out resources students in mentoring programs have someone to turn to. These students have someone who can direct them to the appropriate resources and provide the support that the students need.