Prevailing Over a Rough Start
Alum News
Published September 13, 2016
Career: As a project manager for an IT company, she has the freedom to set her own hours.
Uphill climb: After her family crumbled, she grew up with her sister in three different foster families. “I truly did not want to end up anything like my parents.”
Improving her odds: “I didn’t know any high school graduates who had good job prospects, so I focused on getting an advantage with a good college degree.”
This story appears in the Summer 2016 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.
Learn More
1st Gen
Changing the script: Coming to Smith as first in the family to finish college can mean culture shock and confusion. But, as one alumna says, can open doors to 'a life I never knew existed'.
Helen Lan Fong Lee AC ’03
Portland, Oregon
Sociology major
Jewels Rhode ’11
Durham, North Carolina
Psychology major
Kiara Gomez ’14
on a Fulbright in Athens, Greece
Geosciences major
Sarah Coburn ’07
Philadelphia
English major
Resources for First-Generation Students
A compliation of some of the resources available to FIGS, the group of First-Generation Students that together form a community of support and success.
Photographed by Julia Hoggson Vandenoever ’96, May 2, 2016, in Boulder, Colorado