My Davidson | A Student Blog First-Gen Students Get a Healthy Dose of Fun and College Know-How

About the Author

Nasir Jean-Paul ’24 (he/him/his) is a sociology major from Miami, Florida.

“My name is Nas, and I’m a Haitian-American. I love to travel, watch anime, and participate in a variety of physical activities such as walking, yoga, calisthenics, and hand-balancing.”

Last summer, I interned with GenOne, a non-profit organization that works to get talented first-generation students to and through college. As a summer intern at GenOne, my supervisor, Ian, tasked me with helping run two summer programs: the Summer Bridge Program (SBP) for rising first-years and the Summer Leadership Academy (SLA) for rising high-school freshmen. If it hadn’t been for my amazing co-worker, Lontina, I don’t know how these programs would have been so successful. We worked on everything together: creating flyers, curricula, icebreakers, and fun and engaging activities. We were also tasked with ordering snacks, calling parents, handling transportation, and…I think you get the point. It was a lot of work for only two people, but we got it done, and the outcome exceeded our expectations.

“Sharing Perspectives”

The Summer Bridge Program had about eight students, a higher turnout from previous years. We talked about everything from identity and belonging to financial knowledge and career opportunities. The students were engaged in the lessons and did not hold back in the icebreakers and activities. They almost broke my umbrella during a scavenger hunt we held, and I had them stumped during a college edition riddle hangman. They told me they appreciated having the perspective of a current college student, and their responses from our post-program survey showed that most of the students felt more prepared going into college than they did before the program.

“Exhausting But Fun”

Summer 2022 was the first time GenOne hosted the Summer Leadership Academy, and let me tell you it was exhausting! We built everything from the ground up, but that wasn’t the hardest part. While SBP was only from 12–4 p.m., SLA was all day, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., not including drop-off and pick-up. So during that week, my days were stretched to earlier mornings and later evenings. Apart from being mentally, emotionally and physically drained, I had fun. The kids loved me, and I loved those kids. Not only were they fun to be around, they were extremely bright. They were always engaged in the lessons, participating and asking questions. Most of all, they respected Lontina and me.