THE LEADERS IN TRANSITION RETREAT

The Leaders in Transition Retreat was a collaborative, pre-college retreat organized by Student U, Partners for Youth, Emily K and Elon Academy. In July, all four college access organizations joined hands, sharing their resources and expertise to design an experience that prepared all of our students for their first semesters in college and other post-secondary endeavors.

Together, we connected students across programs and post-secondary institutions while building skills and networks to support that matriculation. Student leaders from each program, as well as guest faculty and staff from surrounding institutions, led engaging work sessions for our students that were accompanied by a transition handbook for students to reference during the retreat and beyond.

TIPS TO SUPPORT FIRST GENERATION STUDENTS

Listen and believe their experience when they share their challenges.

Show up and be consistent. Let them know that they are not expected to manage everything on their own and that, in fact, the successful college student almost never does it alone.

For Parents:

Resist the urge to step back and instead step in deeper. It may seem your student is in a place to do it all on their own, but a college campus can feel particularly isolating for first-gen students.

Encourage your student to build relationships early and often with student support services, counselors, advisors, and professors. Relationships + Hard Work = SUCCESS!

Photos by courtesy of Emily K Center