My FGLI Experience at Barnard: Zaynab’s Story

Going to college is a difficult transition for most students. Being a first generation, low income student adjusting to a prestigious private university, comes with its own challenges. Although I had the support of my older brothers, it was difficult navigating the college application process and transition to college as a first gen student. However, I was lucky enough to participate in a three-year college-access program for low-income high school students called Minds Matter. This program helped me with improving my writing, SAT testing prep, finding scholarships, and participating in summer programs, including Barnard’s summer pre-college program.

Entering my first year, I couldn’t wait to become a part of the Barnard community, which showed to be incredibly supportive and welcoming. However, growing up in Brooklyn and going to a Title 1 school, I experienced a sort of culture shock once I got to Barnard and was worried I wouldn’t find the same support or community I had in high school. 

However, in the first few days and weeks at Barnard I was glad to see that Barnard was just as welcoming and empowering as I had hoped it would be; I was able to find my place at Barnard and plenty of support for FGLI students. Two programs that help me the most are the FGLI support groups and the FLIP Library. FGLI meet-ups are frequently held at Barnard as opportunities for FGLI students to come together and find mutual support. During new student orientation programs, there were also a variety of academic programs for first-generation students to help them feel better prepared for college classes. A huge resource many students use is the FLIP (First-Generation Low-income Partnership) Library. The FLIP Library is a collection of course books and textbooks that FGLI students can check out for the semester at no cost. The FLIP Library tries to provide books for every course offered, especially introductory classes, and adds new texts every semester. I have used the Milstein Center and the FLIP Library to find most of my textbooks my past two semesters at Barnard and it has been incredibly helpful in reducing my cost of attendance and the stress that comes with buying textbooks. 

Overall, although the transition was a bit difficult at the start, knowing that there is a community of students that come from a similar background as me, as well as programs and resources specifically built for FGLI students, allows me to feel more comfortable and at home at Barnard.

-Zaynab Sulaiman