Natchee Barnd - Impact of 1st Generation Students
From Natalia Fernandez
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From Natalia Fernandez
I think a lot of, a lot of sort of new ways of thinking, new sort of experiences, again, because we know that college education is sort of, is tracks along economic and whatever lines that it's easy to sort of become this middle class and above sort of ground or only those experiences and those knowledges get sort of used, or sort of those values get sort of woven into the institutions. So, you know, coming in with different perspectives, talking about different communities, sort of having different ways of seeing things are things I think are super valuable for a university to have those. But also just because it's a, you know, these are, especially here as a land grant institution right, it's supposed to be a broadly supportive institution for all people in some way, so how do you do that if you sort of economically and otherwise cutting people out? And so people need to bring those, all those folks who are coming in first generation, whether it is economic, or just not having that background, they bring all those sort of ideas and sort of approaches and creativities and I think those are necessary. I think that is what college is for - is the structure to have those very difficult conversations and sort of think about, “well how is this, we can make all the decisions here, in Portland or the Willamette Valley but how do we actually include or be sort of thoughtful about the pieces in East Portland or on the coast, and these small towns, and farms and places that can easily get out voted?” How do we do this in a way, because if we have this sort of network of relations, how do we actually do it in a thoughtful way that is beneficial to as many people as possible, not just a matter of, “well, there is more of us than you and so therefore, sorry, screw you.” So I think that helps when people are coming from those places and can say, “well, this is how it works for us, or this is why it might impact my family” or whatever the case, so some of, so I think those are some of the things I think that people bring.