“It Was Rough”: The experiences of first‐generation collegians transitioning into higher education amid COVID‐19

Abstract

During the global health pandemic caused by COVID‐19, most collegians and higher education agents abruptly transitioned to online learning and virtual interactions. Although online education is not a new phenomenon, this was an unforeseen transition for most students in higher education. This study investigated what first‐generation collegians in their 1st year and 1st‐year transfers experienced at a public university in the northeast United States during the 2020–2021 academic year. Findings include increased isolation and mental health issues, connection‐building, a lack of faculty and peer connections, and belongingness via in‐person and virtual community spaces. Recommendations are provided for how higher education agents can best serve these collegians in virtual courses, programming initiatives, and beyond.

“I think I adjusted well, considering everything with COVID‐19. But no, I definitely did not expect for this part of my life to be as difficult as it was.” (Zoey, study collaborator)

INTRODUCTION

Few historical events compare to the seismic impact of the COVID‐19 global health pandemic. Since early 2020, the United States—and the world—has experienced unprecedented levels of challenges, including, but not limited to, isolations via mandatory quarantines and physical distance mandates, high levels of unemployment, exacerbation of healthcare inequities, and higher levels of mental health issues (Barber et al., 2021; Burki, 2020). This pandemic has undoubtedly impacted higher education institutions, by forcing school closures and shifting how instructors and campus administrators delivered teaching, programming, and learning (Burki, 2020). This study aimed to investigate the transitional experiences of first‐generation collegians, particularly those in their 1st year and first‐year transfers, during the 2020–2021 academic year at a research‐intensive university in the northeast United States. The 2020–2021 academic year was the 1st full academic year, spanning from Fall 2020 to Spring 2021, during the COVID‐19 pandemic that shook the world and forced colleges to immediately close their doors, leaving institutional agents to move to primarily virtual learning and engagement platforms.

In addition, this quick shift in modality forced the cancellation or reimagining of graduations, numerous other campus events and programs, and campus services for students (e.g., counseling and tutoring). In the excerpt above, Zoey, a transfer student in her junior year, shared how she did not expect her life to be so difficult transitioning to a new college as a 1st‐year transfer student within predominantly virtual spaces.

Virtual learning environments will become more commonplace. Therefore, scholars must analyze the experiences and perceptions of first‐generation undergraduate students on these virtual platforms, especially as collegians are transitioning to a new institution. This information may help students gain a sense of belonging with people and physical and virtual spaces (Nunn, 2021; Strayhorn, 2012). Our study adds to existing literature centering first‐generation collegians and contributes to the literature on virtual learning during and after a worldwide health crisis. To guide our study, the research question we ask is: What were the lived experiences of first‐generation 1st‐year and transfer students during COVID‐19 in the 2020–2021 academic year? We aim to provide implications for higher education agents while gaining a greater understanding of the lived experiences of first‐generation collegians. Further, we offer recommendations to support learning and socialization in virtual environments.

Brief overview of first‐generation collegians

For this study, first‐generation collegians are defined as individuals who are the first in their families to pursue a 4‐year higher education in the United States (Jehangir et al., 2020; Ward et al., 2012). First‐generation collegians are an underrepresented group, accounting for approximately 32% of students at 4‐year colleges and nearly a third of all undergraduate students (Cataldi et al., 2018). Of this population, most of these students originate from racially minoritized communities (i.e., Black, Indigenous, and People of Color [BIPOC]) and come from family backgrounds with high financial need (Jehangir et al., 2020; McCoy, 2014). Many of these students enter college from socioeconomic backgrounds with high financial need and endure various levels of discrimination and microaggressions as a result of their intersectional oppressed identities (e.g., BIPOC and from low‐income families) and have navigational challenges with whiteness ideologies, especially at historically white institutions (McCoy, 2014; Santa‐Ramirez et al., 2022). Although most college students experience some transitional issues, these collegians often endure additional academic and social transitional challenges (Pascarella et al., 2004). While increased research efforts have focused on this student population in recent years, first‐generation student perspectives are often excluded in conversations around institutional strategic plans and support systems provided via programs and resources.

When studying first‐generation students, it has become common practice to describe these collegians as solely high need from a deficit‐based lens, which can position them as noncontributors to the campus community (Santa‐Ramirez, 2021; Santa‐Ramirez et al., 2022). Ives & Castillo‐Montoya (2020) conducted a systematic literature review and found that higher education as a field has a limited view of first‐generation students' academic abilities. According to this review, most scholarship conceptualizes first‐generation students as lacking critical skills, knowledge, time, or capital deemed necessary for academic success in higher education, positioning them against the dominant practices of higher education (Ives & Castillo‐Montoya, 2020). However, these collegians—particularly those who are BIPOC and from low socioeconomic status backgrounds—are often forced to navigate an educational system not designed with them in mind and unfamiliar to their families, yet students bring cultural capital, skills, assets, and talents (Jehangir et al., 2020; Santa‐Ramirez, 2021; Yosso, 2005).

Sense of belonging

While normative culture has traditionally excluded first‐generation students, several scholars have found a strong correlation between these students' successes and a sense of belonging (SOB) on campus. Collegians who identify as first‐generation and within racially minoritized groups have reported a lower SOB on college campuses than their peers (Gopalan & Brady, 2020; Strayhorn, 2012) and are commonly found not to retain and persist to graduation when compared to their peers who feel a greater SOB to their campus community (Gopalan & Brady, 2020; Jack, 2019; Strayhorn, 2012). A stronger SOB is also associated with increased use of on‐campus resources and positive mental well‐being (Gopalan & Brady, 2020; Jack, 2019). In a study of first‐generation students across six large public institutions, these collegians had significantly higher levels of depression and self‐reported stress (Stebleton et al., 2014). Stebleton et al. (2014) found a small but significant relationship between students who reported a higher SOB with lower occasions of stress or depression throughout the academic year.

Existing literature also highlights that first‐generation students' SOB can exponentially increase with access to others who share their identity and are given opportunities to stay connected to their communities (Museus & Chang, 2021). Offering learning opportunities that allow these students to engage with learning relevant to their identities and promote collective communities can actively validate their identities (Museus & Chang, 2021). Validation has been found to positively impact first‐generation students’ SOB (Museus & Chang, 2021). It is critical to emphasize it can be challenging for racially minoritized communities in the United States to truly feel a SOB within an endemically racist society, which includes those who are also first‐generation collegians (Stokes, 2021). However, many higher education institutions are actively working toward building this bridge to assist minoritized and underrepresented collegians to further feel a greater SOB to their campuses. Thus, higher education agents need to continue learning more about who and where first‐generation collegians identify their belongingness, or lack thereof, to understand their needs and how to serve them best.

Faculty impact and virtual learning environments

College faculty significantly support their students’ success throughout college. These relationships help to increase students’ motivation and engagement throughout their educational careers; however, faculty also have the power to transmit knowledge and capital to first‐generation collegians (McCallen & Johnson, 2020). Especially during students' 1st year of college, relationships with faculty who could provide academic guidance were significant and were often an essential variable when assessing students' SOB on campus (Means & Pyne, 2017). These relationships have the power to impact students' academic achievement and provide a positive overall campus experience. Higher education agents, including faculty, must learn how to best support first‐generation collegians in traditional face‐to‐face classrooms and virtual learning environment settings. The COVID‐19 pandemic abruptly forced higher education to shift to virtual engagement resulting in first‐generation collegians having significant disparities in their remote learning experience (Barber et al., 2021). For example, when the COVID‐19 global pandemic began, first‐generation students at the University of California Los Angeles had significant disparities in remote learning, disproportionately impacting racially minoritized and first‐generation collegians (Barber et al., 2021). These students had significantly greater expectations to help siblings at home with their remote schooling, suffered greater economic and food insecurity related to COVID‐19 (Barber et al., 2021), and experienced limited access to spaces to study and resources for academic success (Kiebler & Stewart, 2022). Additionally, for many students, increased anxiety and stress were commonplace (Hoyt et al., 2020; Lederer et al., 2021).

To best support this growing student population, it is crucial to consider both their assets and challenges within the lived realities of first‐generation students in higher education institutions (Santa‐Ramirez, 2021). Not only must higher educational agents learn how to best support first‐generation collegians in a traditional classroom setting, but education delivery has also become increasingly more digital. The quick shift to virtual learning due to COVID‐19 has proved online education has the potential to transform higher education. Although many students shared their challenges with virtual learning platforms, these can also have the power to provide beneficial impacts for first‐generation students. For example, virtual learning can lower cost barriers, allow more flexibility, and offer people who previously experienced impediments access more accessibility (Atherton, 2021). Henritius et al. (2019) found a strong relationship between students' emotions toward a virtual classroom and learning outcomes. COVID‐19 has brought new and distinct challenges for students as academic learners. Shapiro et al. (2020) began studying the effect of converting instruction to an online platform amid a pandemic. The authors found this drastic switch was highly disruptive for students and instructors. While this study explicitly addresses Hispanic‐serving institutions, the student stories expressing isolation and a lack of support can inform our higher education agents' work with first‐generation college students.

THEORETICAL CONNECTION

To understand the transition to higher education and barriers experienced by first‐generation students during the COVID‐19 pandemic, we employed Schlossberg's (1989) transition theory as the guiding framework. For this study, a transition is any “event or non‐event that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles” (Goodman et al., 2006, p. 33). Specifically, we center the three types of transitions in Schlossberg's (1989) model: type (i.e., individual's anticipated and unanticipated transitions), context (i.e., the setting in which a transition takes place), and impact (i.e., the degree to which a transition changes or alters the person's life). The aforementioned transitions helped shape our guiding research question and overall design, including the interview protocol questions highlighting their transitional experiences. Further, it assisted in our initial deductive coding, which helped us more clearly grasp the lived experiences of our student collaborators as these collegians transitioned into higher education and a new university during the beginning stages of COVID‐19.

METHODS AND COLLABORATORS

This article is one part of a more extensive mixed‐methods study on the lived experiences of first‐generation collegians as they transitioned into higher education amid the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The findings represented in this article are from 15 individual qualitative interviews with collaborators, which were guided by photovoice. Ten collaborators were in their 1st year and five transferred in during the 2020–2021 academic year. We recruited students affiliated with a student support services program that caters to supporting first‐generation 1st year and 1st‐year transfer students, BIPOC students, and those from family backgrounds with high financial need. We were also interested in gathering the experiences of student collaborators who resided in on‐campus housing during the 2020–2021 academic year, so we collaborated with the residence life department staff at the chosen site to gauge interest in our study. Table 1 provides an overview of the collaborators' profiles. The collaborators who participated in the interviews all: (a) identified as the first in their family to attend a 4‐year higher education institution in the United States, (b) were at least 18 years of age, and (c) were first‐year students or first‐year transfer students during the 2020–2021 academic year. The interviews lasted approximately 60–90 min, and each collaborator provided two images (i.e., photos they took or other images they found on the internet) in advance, which best described their experiences as first‐generation, first‐year, or first‐year transfer students during the 2020–2021 academic year at a large, research‐intensive university located in the Northeast.

TABLE 1.

Collaborator profiles

Name	Age and year in college	Academic major(s)	Gender identity and pronouns	Race and/or ethnicity
Xiomara	19/Sophomore	Social Sciences	Woman (she/her)	Bangladeshi/Albanian
Zoey	20/Junior	Bioinformatics	Woman (she/her)	White/Black
Stephanie	20/Sophomore	Biological Sciences	Woman (she/her/hers)	Asian
Joanne	20/Junior	English/Business	Woman (she/her/hers)	Asian
Tabitha	21/Junior	Biological Sciences	Woman (she/her/hers)	Southeast Asian
George	19/First‐year	Pharmacy	Man (he/him)	Black/Ghanaian
Irene	18/First‐year	Occupational Therapy	Woman (she/her/hers)	Biracial/Hispanic
Ari	19/Sophomore	Computer Engineering	Man (he/him)	Black
Jennifer	19/Sophomore	Communications	Woman (she/her)	Dominican
Cassie	19/Sophomore	Engineering	Woman (she/her)	White
Sunny	19/Sophomore	Business	Woman (she/her)	Asian
Arnold	18/First‐year	Biology	Man (he/him)	Pakistani
Melanie	19/First‐year	Biology	Woman (she/her)	Hispanic/Native American
Nicole	20/Junior	Public Health	Woman (she/her/hers)	White
Stoney	21/Junior	Chemical Engineering	Woman (she/her/hers)	Middle Eastern

Photo elicitation as a research methodology was first introduced by Collier (1957), who shared photos can keep the interview more stimulating and structured, avoiding repetitiveness. Photo elicitation as a qualitative method may include pictures to identify meanings that the image's content has to the collaborators (Harper, 2002). Loeffler (2004) shared that it is a collaborative process where the researcher becomes the listener, and the participant interprets the photo for the researcher. Further, using visual stimulus can alter the tone of the interview, potentially prompting emotional connections to memories, which in turn provide more meaningful accounts (Kunimoto, 2004). Photovoice as a photo‐elicitation method was first developed by Wang & Burris (1997), using photographs selected by respondents to reflect the reasons, emotions, and experiences that guide their chosen images.

The primary purpose of having the collaborators provide two photos was for reflective purposes on their experiences transitioning into higher education during the 2020–2021 academic year. Due to copyright and anonymity issues, we decided not to share them in this manuscript. To provide a few examples, some photos the study collaborators shared were of people appearing stressed and isolated. Others were photos of themselves with masks over their mouth and nose, representing the challenges and changes COVID‐19 presented. One collaborator, George, a first‐year student, provided a photo of him alongside his mother and father at his high school graduation in June 2020, all three wearing masks. In an interview, he shared his sadness to have graduation limited to only two guests due to safety protocols. He initially planned to invite his entire family to be present to celebrate this milestone. Incorporating photos taken by the collaborators resulted in a more detailed interview with rich data, which may not always be accomplished using other interview techniques (Shaw, 2013). All students who participated in our study received a gift card incentive to thank them for sharing their time and stories with the research team.

RESEARCHERS’ POSITIONALITY

I, Stephen (he/him), was a first‐generation student analogous to the collaborators in this study and held some other identities that aligned with many of them, including being a non‐white Latino who pursued a bachelor's degree at a historically white institution. These commonalities assisted with building trust and rapport with the collaborators and sharing with them some of my personal journey of transitioning to a new university during the 2020–2021 academic year. Understanding I was an insider in some ways (i.e., some of my social identities and lived experiences), I was also aware I was considered an outsider to these collegians because I am a full‐time faculty member–a part of the same group of instructors they spoke about having classes with. Thus, it was vital for me to share a little about my approach to teaching, both in and out of virtual platforms, to include collaborative, humanizing, and engaging teaching environments.

I, Sarah (she/her), am not a first‐generation student; however, I met my co‐researchers through our shared work alongside first‐generation collegians. I am committed to equitable education practices and aspire to make a tangible difference in students' lives. I began my graduate education journey at the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year, a gratifying yet challenging year for me. I was interested in joining this research team to highlight the lived experiences of first‐generation students through their transition to higher education during the same year, and my own experiences helped me build trust and rapport with interviewees.

I, Anthony (he/him), am a first‐generation Dominican Latino student who transitioned into a new academic program during the 2020–2021 academic year. I have worked alongside and for the advancement of first‐generation students in various capacities, including research teams and student organizations. I used my personal experiences to connect with the student collaborators, such as sharing some of my experiences during COVID‐19 and as a first‐generation student.

I, Kavitha (she/her), am an Asian Indian woman of Color, and relocating to the United States as an im/migrant allowed me to understand the educational disparities. After graduating with my master's degree, I worked with im/migrant students in a high school setting who were going to be the first in their families to pursue college. I could relate to some of the adjustment problems the student collaborators in our study faced as I, too, transitioned into a new PhD program during the earlier parts of COVID‐19 (i.e., 2021–2022). Although I am not the first in my family to attend college, as my father pursued a bachelor's degree in India, I am the first to pursue higher education in the United States. This identity helped the student collaborators view me as an insider to some degree. Thus, they were comfortable talking with me, which built trust to exchange information about their transitional experiences amid the pandemic.

I, Emeka (he/him), am a Black, first‐generation graduate and primarily a quantitative researcher that began my tenure‐track faculty position amid COVID‐19. As a researcher experiencing the realities of moving to a new environment with a family allowed me to connect with this research topic more closely.

ANALYSIS

Aligning with Moustakas' (1994) proposed analysis processes in phenomenological studies, we employed epoche and reduction. Each team member was reflexive in the epoche process and used memoing practices to write down our individual biases and preconceived notions. Next, we met biweekly via Zoom, a virtual videoconferencing platform, and engaged in more extensive discussions around our reflexive processes. We then engaged in the reduction process, known as horizonalization (Moustakas, 1994). We created meaning units due to the singularity of each experience and clustered them, which assisted in the development of textual descriptions of the themes. We read the interview transcripts numerous times while identifying commonalities and shared accounts, then used a constant comparison to configure the horizons into themes. We also employed deductive coding strategies (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2008). We identified sections with the guiding framework in mind, centering on the types of transitions proposed by Schlossberg (1989): type, context, and impact. Specifically, we coded moments where these collegians shared their feelings and experiences transitioning into and through a new higher education institution and their overall effects. Finally, we clustered the meaning units central to the phenomena and the chosen theoretical framework. In this study, to achieve trustworthiness and credibility, we participated in ongoing reflective meetings to ensure that we centered on the experiences of our collaborators and not our own, as four out of five authors transitioned to new institutions or academic programs during the 2020–2021 academic year. Therefore, we engaged in critical team and self‐reflection through research memoing and group dialogue, which helped to ensure confirmability.

FINDINGS

The findings showcase the myriad of experiences the collaborators shared with us about their transitions into college during the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The identified themes were placed into three different categories. The interview data results highlight the collaborators’ experiences with isolation and mental health issues, the community spaces they found, and the connections they made with peers and their faculty during the 2020–2021 academic year.

Isolation and mental health issues

The COVID‐19 pandemic completely altered how individuals live globally. As a collective society, we were forced to adapt to a new environment, but often this was coupled with overwhelming anxiety and self‐isolation. The student collaborators were no strangers to these feelings, and many expressed how COVID‐19 and virtual learning greatly impacted their mental health. The collaborators felt an increased sense of loneliness. Many collaborators revealed how being physically separated from others due to six‐feet distance restrictions to stop the spread of COVID‐19 negatively impacted them. Irene commented, “I didn't really like online learning. It was definitely very isolating.” Whether they lived on‐ or off‐campus, the student collaborators shared that most of their courses were virtual, if not all. The disconnect and lack of contact with others affected their educational experience and caused harm to their mental well‐being. During our analysis, we noticed many of our students revealed a lack of healthy boundaries between their academic life and other facets of life as they transitioned into college, especially for the students who attended virtual classes from their homes off‐campus. Referring to the lack of separation between school and home life, Stoney, a 2nd‐year transfer student, shared, “it caused me to burn out really quickly.” Analogous to several collaborators, Stoney spent her year “studying from the dining room table” at her family's home. She explained the monotony and surrealness she felt as she sat in the “Stoney chair” every day, which was one of the images she provided. She began staying up extremely late, even as late as 4:00 AM, and shared how she felt she had lost control of a healthy schedule and routine. She later told us in her interview:

It's so confusing. I can't completely define how I felt in my home during the online learning experience, so part of me not taking it seriously was like, oh, I'm just like sitting in my pajamas in my house … even like the grades I was getting back from my classes, they didn't feel [real].

Similar sentiments were shared by many of the collaborators, regardless of their housing situation. Most stated that their time was spent on a computer screen for class or working on course assignments. George, who resided on‐campus, said, “there was never a break from the screen.” He even shared an image of himself during his virtual interview for admittance into his undergraduate academic program. He later stated,

During the spring semester, the state mandated schools to cancel spring break for all of us. The 15 straight weeks of constant homework, quizzes, and classes took their toll on me. I felt stressed because the quarantine periods took time away from classwork and engagement in the actual class. Then the constant weekly COVID‐19 tests took up a lot of time in my schedule. It felt like every second of the day I was working. I was doing homework and classes. I could barely find time to actually attend office hours or review sessions. The only ones I could attend were on the weekends, and that was only for one asynchronous class.

On‐campus residential students were required to test for COVID‐19 weekly. According to George, these testing and quarantine requirements were new and added additional stressors, which became commonplace. The absence of any substantial break (i.e., fall or spring break) took a toll on students' mental health, with many sharing their challenges with high levels of stress and anxiety. Virtual learning and being physically distant from others also impacted students' physical health. Virtual classes provided a false impression of flexibility. Collaborators shared they felt attached to their computers without focusing on their mental or physical needs. Discussing virtual classes, Nicole, a transfer student in her junior year, shared a photo of a person in front of a laptop. This student commented:

It takes a lot of mental energy, and I'm finding myself having headaches or zoning out towards the end. I was just waiting for it to be over. . . . being a student on screen for such a long time has impacted my physical health, affecting my school outcomes.

The process of seeking support appeared different for every individual collaborator. For example, Irene, a first‐year student, used her university's counseling services and shared,

It was definitely something that I've been thinking about before I left for college. I feel like coming from a first‐generational household or in a Hispanic home, counseling isn't something you talk about a lot. If you need it, you don't access it, or there's a very negative connotation. So, I knew that I couldn't do that or get any help when I was at home, which was why I wanted to go away to school. So, once I went away, I just made the phone call as soon as possible.

Irene's narrative is not uncommon for many Latinx households. However, when she felt the pressures of isolation and growing anxiety, she decided to go against the unspoken norms of caring for herself, which often did not include seeking professional counseling or psychological services and using her university's counseling center. In response to Irene's comment, in his memos, the first author, Stephen, shared,

I felt like that, too. I grew up in a Latinx household, and we never spoke about counseling and psychological services. It was almost like it was taboo and somehow hiding what we were experiencing was our only option. Even during the pandemic's beginning, when I, too, had lots of anxiety, I did not think to seek professional assistance.

Irene recognized that she needed to seek assistance beyond herself, which is admirable.

Connections (or not) with peers and faculty

As previously stated, several collaborators described their social interactions with similar sentiments, unhappiness, and isolation due to a lack of interactions with peers and classmates. The collaborators shared that they had little to no faculty interactions, which was a significant concern for many of these students. Further, several students stated that missing peer connections during the pandemic affected them immensely. Zoey commented, “I expected COVID‐19 to keep me home, but I didn't expect it to affect virtually every aspect of my life.” She shared that not meeting her friends changed her friendship dynamics she built and maintained before the pandemic. Zoey shared an image of a lone silhouette and mentioned that she lost touch with her peers because of online classes and could not connect with friends on campus. When talking about her experiences with peers and faculty as a first‐year student, Jennifer, in her sophomore year at the time of the study, stated, “I felt discouraged, I didn't really feel social, to be honest.” Cassie, also in her 1st year in 2020–2021, felt it was isolating for her without in‐person peer interactions.

On the other hand, Ari, a 2nd‐year student, commented that her campus “was like a ghost town.” Students who enrolled in physical face‐to‐face academic programs expected a certain level of socialization with their peers and other campus agents. Socialization on campus plays a significant role in a student's life, and the absence of these peer connections during the pandemic affected them in a plethora of ways. In response to learning of some of the student collaborators' experiences, Anthony, the third author of this article, wrote in his memos,

As I reflect on my year (entering my first semester as a grad student in a pandemic), I relate to this sentiment. All of the best parts of education were taken away… I connected with very few people, felt overwhelming anxiety regarding COVID‐19, school, and family… it was extremely difficult to stay positive and motivated and take care of yourself.

When speaking about her courses offered in an asynchronous format, Stoney shared, “I don't think I know what one of them [faculty members] looks like.” During our analysis, in addition to the lack of connection‐building with peers, students also lacked a connection to faculty members. Several collaborators expressed the difficulty of forming relationships through a virtual environment. Arnold, a 1st‐year biology student, described this lack of interaction with professors as the most notable and negative aspect of virtual learning. He shared, “Since I'm not able to be there with the professor, I can't really get that personal connection with them, which I feel is very important in a classroom setting.” Arnold explained that without this connection, he felt staying focused and engaged in class was more challenging. Other students also shared this sentiment. Melanie, a biology major and a first‐year student at the beginning of COVID‐19, shared, “It's so hard to motivate yourself when there's no accountability.” In conversation, Melanie reflected that most of her courses during the 2020–2021 academic year were asynchronous, making it even more challenging to connect with faculty. Similarly, George found it hard to “be engaged and keep up with assignments in asynchronous courses.” Melanie discussed the challenges of not being held to a schedule by not going to a physical classroom, even when engaging in synchronous courses. She also said, “your professor wouldn't notice if you were in class because there was no [in‐person] class to attend.” The absence of faculty relationships made it less motivating for students to complete and fully participate in their educational experiences. Reflecting on the collaborators' experiences in these aspects, Sarah, the second author of this article, wrote the following in her memos:

As a graduate student enrolled in classes during the semester, I completely understand the feeling of not having the faculty relationship. At times, with some faculty members, it felt effortless to feel engaged in their classes because they showed us a level of care, a feeling of connectedness, and a sense of passion. Nonetheless, with some of the other faculty members, it was very difficult to be engaged, motivated, or even have the desire to complete most (if not any) of the work within their courses since we did not feel connected with our faculty, as we did with the others.

Although many collaborators shared the challenges faced with building relationships with their faculty in virtual learning spaces, even the slightest connection with a faculty member seemed to impact students substantially. Students benefited significantly when faculty members made efforts to check in on their students, shared personal facts about themselves, or even just turned on their cameras during Zoom lectures. Melanie shared,

the only reason I feel like I got really attached to my Native American studies teacher was because that class was synchronous . . . just sitting there and seeing a teacher and other faces, even with a mask on, felt so much more like a real learning experience than sitting on my own in my bedroom.

Similarly, Tabitha, a junior and transfer student, had difficulties connecting to her peers and faculty during the 2020–2021 academic year; however, some of that shifted when she became involved in the McNair Scholars Program, a U.S. Department of Education TRIO program that supports students from traditionally underserved and underrepresented backgrounds. She shared an image of the logo of the summer program she was affiliated with and said she built personal connections and a SOB to her university through this program and the affiliated advisors. During an interview, Tabitha shared, “I was involved in the summer research program, which really helped build connections. And because I turned on my camera [via Zoom], and I would attend weekly meetings, I felt like I got closer to them.” She later said that she regularly keeps in touch with one of the instructors to engage in conversations around her interest in graduate school. Many collaborators commented on how small gestures from faculty members completely altered their experience for the better. Those personal connections and professional relationships with their faculty significantly impacted how the collaborators engaged in their learning experiences. Building a rapport with professors proved to have great value to students. Next, we discuss the community spaces the collaborators found in a new place amid COVID‐19.

Connection‐building via community spaces

One of COVID‐19′s many impacts on collegians, including collaborators in this study, was a lack of community spaces within higher education institutions once the majority of interactions moved to online virtual platforms. To delve deeper into what this felt like, we asked the collaborators about the people and places where they found some sort of community connections, if at all. To our surprise, many of the collaborators were able to find belongingness in their transition to college during the 2020–2021 academic year. COVID‐19 has impacted how people worldwide learned to build connections amid quarantining and following the various guidelines presented by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The collaborators in this study had to use different methods to build these community spaces for themselves. Some collaborators found or created a community through various student organizations, including some religious‐ and spiritually‐based organizations. George shared how he needed to get involved in a religious‐based organization to help remove the feeling of being “a little lost about not being able to go to church because of COVID‐19.” He spoke about the importance of finding a Christian‐based campus organization to continue building upon his faith “amid the chaos going on around the world.” Another collaborator, Stoney, found that digging more into her spiritual side during the pandemic “kept me sane.”

While residing on‐campus during the pandemic and taking courses online, multiple collaborators (60%) were yearning to build connections within their residential spaces. One student, Irene, found herself in a place where she “wanted to do something that made a difference.” She sought various opportunities within her residence halls, including the Residence Hall Association (RHA), eventually becoming a paraprofessional resident assistant to continue “making connections with people.” Similarly, Sunny, a 2nd‐year business major, began her community and connection‐building within the RHA. George shared how proud he was able to step outside of his comfort zone and build friendships with his peers residing in his residence hall and within a living‐learning community he was part of. Although some narratives of community‐building were positive, there were also feelings of disconnect and a lack of relationship‐building with professors and peers.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Virtual community spaces and learning will become more common as we navigate life in the “new normal,” as COVID‐19 is ever‐present. Thus, higher education agents must be willing to continually adapt to the shift in cultural norms and work to better meet the needs of the collegians at their institutions. We offer several recommendations for institutional agents to consider implementing in their practice. First, as many of the collaborators suffered various mental health issues and the effects of isolation, administrators can offer ongoing healing workshops. These can include engaging conversations led by trained counseling and psychological services professionals and providing workshops and activities in arts and healing. Further, explaining to students at orientation how helpful counseling and psychological services can be for them and what types of sessions they offer (e.g., one‐on‐one and group; in‐person or virtually) is essential. This information can be disseminated via email and poster advertisements, and possibly through resident assistant meetings and messaging in the residence halls.

In our findings, we highlight that Irene took the initiative and sought out counseling services on her campus, despite mentioning that such conversations and seeking out these types of resources were not discussed as a first‐generation collegian from a Latinx household. It is essential that higher education agents, especially those who engage with and support first‐generation BIPOC students, advocate and publicize such services for awareness‐building and to possibly alleviate any stigmas or biases around seeking such support. Additionally, collaborators spoke about their canceled fall and spring breaks, which impacted their mental health. Thus, higher education agents (i.e., faculty, institutional policymakers, and administrators) must consider the harmful effects of removing these breaks and implement innovative ways throughout the academic year so collegians may have time away from their studies and computer screens to recenter and recharge. Further, several collaborators indicated not using many campus services and resources, which is another area higher education agents should focus on. We suggest faculty add a page in their syllabi to provide a list of various campus resources for students, and administrators publicize them on the college's social media pages. Although faculty and administrators did not know beforehand that a global health pandemic would force educators to move to online teaching and programming platforms, they should be provided training in technological advancements and various virtual teaching methods.

Many collaborators mentioned their lack of connection‐building with their faculty in virtual spaces. Yet some collaborators felt a greater connection to their instructors who kept their cameras on during class sessions and shared personal stories and their experiences amid COVID‐19, which better humanized them and the environment. Therefore, we recommend that instructors who use virtual learning platforms continue to keep their cameras on and encourage their students to do so if they are in a comfortable setting. Melanie shared she did not know what one of her instructors looked like in an asynchronous course. One suggestion for those who teach asynchronous courses is to record and post a brief welcome video and then post weekly videos of themselves introducing the corresponding week's topic. Another suggestion for instructors is to offer an opportunity for their new students, including first‐generation students, to participate in brief one‐on‐one introductory meetings. Further, Tabitha noted that it was extremely helpful when her professors recorded their synchronous courses and provided their students with access to the videos to refer back to. Thus, we encourage all instructors who teach online to consider recording class sessions and posting them in an easily accessible platform that enrolled students in their courses have access to (e.g., the course Blackboard or Canvas page). In total, the practices mentioned above may assist their collegians in feeling a greater sense of connection‐building and belongingness when they can see their instructors and interact with them in more informal ways.

Moreover, since many of the collaborators yearned for more interactions with their faculty beyond the course materials, instructors should make it a point to thoroughly explain to their students, especially first‐generation collegians, what office hours are and how students can use them. Jack (2019) provided the importance of office hours, and faculty should thoroughly explain to first‐generation collegians from low‐income families and/or BIPOC how they can use office hours. Also, it is important to create a welcoming and inviting space for students to come and speak with their instructors. Several collaborators did not attend office hours due to not fully understanding their purpose or due to limitations with times offered. It is important for faculty to consider a more flexible offering of office hours, which may include meeting virtually during times and days that work best for the students.

Lastly, the collaborators could not build connections with their peers during their transitions to college amid COVID‐19. Thus, we recommend that all faculty and administrators implement more social and networking time within their course curriculum and programming schedules. Some examples may include instructors implementing icebreaker activities that allow students to connect with each other better. Administrators can also offer events and programming that provide opportunities for student engagement, such as using online platforms and games (e.g., Jeopardy) centering on a specific topic (e.g., Black history facts and figures) and having teams work together. We hope that implementing some or all of these recommendations can assist with best supporting first‐generation students as they transition into and through college in any format, especially in predominantly virtual settings. Virtual learning will not disappear; thus, all instructors and administrators must have readily available training tutorials and possibly a support staff to be able to contact for curriculum building and guidance on implementing virtual learning platforms and tools to engage students and promote community‐building.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight first‐generation collegians' transitional experiences in their 1st year or 1st‐year transfers amid COVID‐19 during the 2020–2021 academic year. Most students did not enjoy online learning on virtual platforms when no intentional community‐building and faculty connections were provided. Supporting the existing literature on the impacts of COVID‐19 on collegians, many collaborators experienced additional layers of mental health issues, primarily anxiety and stress. As many first‐generation students are also BIPOC, there is a lot of stigma or silence from families around topics of seeking counseling and psychological services; higher education agents need to continue enforcing positive messages about these types of services offered to all students, including those in their 1st year at a new college.

To conclude, by using transition theory, we provided important insights on these collegians' challenges and some of the positive aspects that came out of their 1st year at a new institution during the COVID‐19 pandemic. For example, some students were able to build community in their residence halls and through student organizations (e.g., religious‐based) in virtual settings. Considering first‐generation student perspectives are often excluded in conversations around institutional missions, strategic plans and support systems (Santa‐Ramirez et al., 2022), these collegians should have the opportunity to provide input on programs and resources that best meet their needs. We hope our findings encourage higher education agents to strategically engage in ways to best provide holistic support and care for our transitioning students in virtual and non‐virtual environments. The collaborators have expressed the need for intentional relationship‐building opportunities in class spaces and out‐of‐class environments. Thus, it is critical that institutional agents at all levels must consider the whole student, their well‐being, and overall success in college.

Biographies

Stephen Santa‐Ramirez is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University at Buffalo (UB).

Sarah Block is a dual major student in UB's Higher Education and Student Affairs and Business Administration master's programs.

Anthony Vargas is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Program at UB.

Kavitha Muralidhar is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Program at UB.

Chukwu(emeka) Ikegwuonu is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at St. Cloud State University.

Santa‐Ramirez, S. , Block, S. , Vargas, A. , Muralidhar, K. , & Ikegwuonu, C. (2022). “It Was Rough”: The experiences of first‐generation collegians transitioning into higher education amid COVID‐19. New Directions for Higher Education, 2022, 41–56. 10.1002/he.20451