When Azaria Vargas ’22, a softball player from Bellmore, N.Y., first arrived at Williams College, she naturally sought out friendships on her team. Those connections only deepened when she and several teammates realized they shared an aspect of their identities in common—that of being the first in their families to attend a four-year college.
Vargas says it was reassuring to learn that her teammates sometimes struggled with the stress of navigating college life like she did—trying to untangle the acronyms of offices and programs, or figuring out how to access resources. They relied on each other for advice and support. Vargas wanted more first-gen students to have access to the same kinds of networks that she and her teammates formed.
“First-gen identity is not visible and does not often emerge in conversations,” she says. “There was no distinct pathway to those interactions.”
Profile written for Williams College.