The First Generation Summit at Williams College was a great learning experience. I was able to connect with new students and learn how students from other schools get through the day to day school activities. I never truly realized how many student are actually first generation college students, and the number of students that attended this conference astounded me. Being apart of the EOF Program at Rutgers Camden is one thing, but seeing how many other students struggled with the same first generation problems I have broadened my understanding of the issue. Students like these and myself come to these conferences to gain skills that without programs such as B1GS, we may have never learned about.
The thing I took mist from the conference was the Linked In session attended. The session showed students how to create a professional online profile, something I had never done before. To many of the students who attended the session, Facebook was the means by which this was achieved. Oh how wrong we were. We are all told what not to put on social media, but to build a professional image was something new. The session showed students what to put on their profile, what employers are actually looking for, and how to make our unique skills stand out. The presenters even showed us techniques of going into unofficial interviews, to talk with bosses in the job that we want. The Linked In session better equipped me skills with joining the work, and selecting the career I want.
Thank you so much B1GS for giving me this experience!