Express yourself

Express yourself

How do you express yourself to make sense of your place in the real world — today and in the future — when you are in college? The crucial time needed to reflect upon short-term goals for college and long-term

Non cognitive skills

Non cognitive skills

We are coming to the realization that non cognitive skills are essential for student success in college, career and in life. Despite the greater numbers of students entering college during the past 15 years, fewer and fewer are leaving with

GlobalMindED First Generation Students

GlobalMindED First Generation Students

I spent an exciting few days in Denver (June 17-19, 2015) where I participated in an innovative conference, GlobalMindED. The conference brought together four hundred leaders representing education, business, government and non-profits from throughout the United States and seven countries

Metacognition and Experience

Metacognition and Experience

Educational philosopher John Dewey believed that we actually learn more from thinking about our experiences than from the actual experiences themselves. This idea is not new. The practice of examining and reflecting on experiences, or metacognition, dates back to Socrates and

First Generation Student Study Abroad Scholarship

First Generation Student Study Abroad Scholarship

The opportunity to study abroad is no longer a luxury in the 21st century. Learning about the world first hand is a crucial component for success in our globalized world. Research shows that first generation college students in particular benefit

The Empathy Gap

From the halls of Congress to the halls of our local schools, people tend to interact only with those who are just like them. They rarely understand issues from other points of view because they rarely spend any time with

First Generation Alumni Mentoring

First Generation Alumni Mentoring

There is a huge untapped source of human capital that could revolutionize the support and mentoring that current first generation college students desperately want and need: first generation college student alumni. Colleges and universities are only beginning to realize the

First Generation Students Find Their Voice

First Generation Students Find Their Voice

This is a very exciting time to be a first generation college student! Today’s first gens are connecting, sharing ideas and advocating for themselves as a distinct group. In a three-part blog series on first generation students, I will explore

First Semester Crucial for First Gens

First Semester Crucial for First Gens

Making the transition from high school to college is challenging for just about every young person. But making the transition to college — especially surviving the first semester — is crucial for first generation students. What creative solutions can support

Different social class backgrounds affect transition to college

Different social class backgrounds affect transition to college

The majority of first generation and low-income students struggle to survive the transition from home to college because their experiences and social class backgrounds often leave them confused about the middle-class cultural norms that define university life. These students, especially