By Jake Jenkins
MSU Law
Marina Fuga credits the first-generation student organization with helping her secure a summer law clerk position at Wigod & Falzon, P.C. in Southfield Michigan, this past summer.
“The previous president of the organization really helped me overcome my self-blocking mentality” said Fuga, vice president of the First-Generation Students at MSU Law. “Because I’m the first to go to college in my family, I don’t have the connections others have.
“Lack of connections not only diminishes my work opportunities, but hurt my confidence when applying to summer jobs.”
Fuga, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, said her experience is typical of first-gen students who enter law school without an extensive network of professionals among family and friends.
First-Generation Students at MSU Law provides an inclusive safe space for law students who are first-generation college students, first-generation professionals, and/or students from low-income or working-class backgrounds. Here, they can share and affirm their experiences, advance accessibility within the legal profession, and support each other’s career aspirations.
Fuga along with Alexis Wooldridge, president, are not only first-gen law students but first-gen college students as well.
“Being a first-gen student, especially law student, makes me really appreciate what a privilege it is to be here,” said Wooldridge. “Sometimes you lose sight of how exciting it is to be in law school until you talk to someone who has never experienced it and it makes you realize how big of a deal it is.”
“Starting undergrad, I didn’t realize that being a first-generation student meant something or see it as being different,” said Fuga. “Now in law school, I’m understanding that being a first-gen student is something unique. It means that I am completing something that will not only make my parents proud but will also make me proud of myself.” Experiences like Fuga’s and Wooldridge’s are the impetus behind First Gen Student Week recognized by organizations and college campuses around the country.
Carl Paratore is events coordinator and Francesca Roan is treasurer of the group.
The Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the Center for First-generation Student Success, two national education-centered nonprofit organizations that were created to benefit low-income and first-gen students, launched the inaugural First-Generation College Celebration in 2017. Given the continued success of this event, COE and the Center now partner to make this celebration an annual event.
As a result, many universities have adopted the idea and tradition to highlight first-generation students and display appreciation to those who were the first in their families to purse a higher education. The week of Nov. 7-11 was the official week of celebration.
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