Erica Zhang
BA East Asian Studies and Sociology
Community Scholar
2025
Analyzing the challenges and multiplicities of first-generation student experiences
Community Scholar
2025
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Background
My project will aim to draw up a focused and complex portrait of the experiences of first-generation students and their challenges, finding the unifying aspect of their experiences despite their multiplicity. From an interdisciplinary perspective, I would like to develop solutions for first-generation students during their time in university. More importantly, this project will show the nuances of the unseen: the interpersonal differences not only in thought, but also their idiosyncrasies in behaviour and language, the senses, and their processes during a rapid period of adaptation to environments that are radically different from their own and their unexpected effects on first-generation students.