'Don't be humble'
First Gen Central host cording ceremony
Christopher Herrera (middle) receives his first-generation cord for graduation in the UC Terrace rooms on April 22. (CM Life | Corey Hogue)
Rows of round tables occupied Terrace Rooms in the Bovee University Center, filled to bursting with family and supporters, sitting among the entire purpose of the event: soon-to-graduating students.
“We could not be happier for you,” Paula Lancaster, Provost and vice president of Central Michigan University or CMU said. “That you are really feeling that pride in yourself for all that you have accomplished. Right now, you deserve it. Don’t be humble at this point in time."
First Gen Central hosted a student cording ceremony for dozens of first-gen students graduating this year from CMU to honor and celebrate their achievements.
Each student came forward and be given a cord made of metal balls and cloth, alternating between sliver and maroon red to wear at graduation, signifying their determination and persistence.
Amy McGinnis, director of Student Experience in the Student Engagement and Professional Development Hub of CMU's College of Business, elaborated on the symbolism of the colors, sliver and maroon red, before the graduates were called up.
McGinnis said the sliver represents hope and the determination to broken barriers, and the red stands for passion growth, and commitment to new opportunity and perceptiveness.
Christopher Herrera, a senior and first-gen student majoring in Product Design and Engineering and graduating in May was among those sitting. He explained some of the difficulties that he endured that could be applied to many students coming to college with parents that did not.
“I didn’t have any guidance,” Herrera said. “One of the biggest challenges of being a first-generation student would be just having to figure it out (on your own).”
Joleena Milam, a senior majoring in business administration, flanked by her mother and uncle, echoed some of those experiences, saying that the challenge was just learning it all by yourself. She gave special credit to one of the teachers for acting as a highly valued support system for her, McGinnis, present as one of the speakers and one of many handling our graduation cords.
That lack of prior knowledge upon entering college, and of the overall college experience can be overwhelming and isolating. This was a point Lancaster, herself a first-gen student, briefly went back to as one of the reasons they sat, ready to be called on.
“Most of what I knew about college came from friends that I had who were older than me ... and the teachers who really encouraged me to go," Lancaster said.
She said her parents “never stepped foot on a four-year campus” before she took the plunge herself.
“I still remember feeling pretty overwhelmed, being absolutely certain that everyone else on campus knew exactly what they were doing," she said. “Being worried that because I went to (a) small school, I would not be academically ready.”
Herrera said the way he overcame his own challenges was gaining self-confidence, learning how to ask people for help and remembering his own family's impact on him.
Particularly, Herrera said that his classes in his department, with small class sizes and only two or three of the same professors throughout, allowed him a good opportunity to learn.
“I had to learn how to be (a) social butterfly almost,” Herrea said. “Make connections and network with people, and through that I’ve made invaluable connections and friends at Central.”
Herrera said that graduating meant creating a new pathway for himself.
“It’s a way that I can develop a path for future generations (of) first-generation college students.” Herrera said. “Give them hope, that even with something like being first-gen and not knowing everything that goes with college, to persevere.”
Directly to first-gen students like himself, just entering college, Herrera said: “Don’t put yourself in the bubble of what you can or can’t do.”
Milam, who is planning to start her own business and possibly continue on to graduate school, had a shorter but equally powerful message to first-gen students: “Stick with it.”
