ODESSA, Texas — Making the transition from high school to college can be tricky, and sometimes scary. This can especially be the case for first-generation college students.
This is why the University of Texas Permian Basin has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide support for those students.
UTPB is made up of nearly 50% first-generation college students, and the university just received a designation as a First-Gen Forward institution for their work to support those students.
It also creates opportunity and accessibility for the students.
"We’re here to serve them, for them to know that we value them as individuals, and that we understand and hear their struggles," Diana Balderrama, director of student belonging and inclusion said. "First-gen. students tend to be those who have no idea how college works, what their experience is going to be like."
Despite just now receiving the First-Gen Forward designation, UTPB has been helping first-generation college students like Joshua Lujan, a second year senior, navigate the college experience for much longer.
"Being a first-gen. student hasn’t been the easiest," Lujan said. "Typically, when you think about having other siblings and your family and stuff, you want to look up to having people to guide you through the process, and not having anybody gone through that before, it’s been a little challenging because you’re out there on the road by yourself."
UTPB also provides opportunities like a freshman seminar to help get students acclimated.
"We kind of just went through the process of figuring things out together," Lujan said. "Some of us were all first gen., some of us had siblings come before us that were in college, and we kind of just figured out what is college like and what are we expected to do."
It also creates opportunity for growth outside the classroom.
"I am above appreciative about how supportive this university has been," Lujan said. "They believed in me. I've been given so many opportunities to do many different things. I was the coordinator for campus activities board, I did a lot of study with my choral studies in the music department."
Lujan said that he received a lot of support from his family and friends, and he believes that other potential first-generation college students can succeed as well.
"For anybody out there that is wondering 'Can I do this? I’ve never had anybody in my life go to college or get a diploma or anything like that.' I would say turn to the people that you love the most," Lujan said. "They will support you, they will uplift you and look towards the people that are here working at this university because they want you to succeed."