Being a first generation college student, the struggle is real. Neither of my parents finished college. My mom never went to a college, and my dad flunked out. With this frame of reference, I was at a real disadvantage coming into App State and I knew it.
For me, just getting into Appalachian was an amazing experience since it was my first choice college. Luckily, I got a letter in the mail saying that I was eligible for a program called Student Support Services, or SSS for short.
A brief run down of Student Support Services. SSS is a program for first-generation, low-income college students. Statistically speaking, we are the group least likely to make it to college, and the most likely to drop out, so the state gives App a few million a year to fund this program. I don’t know how much the dropout rate has fallen at App, but I know that it is lower.
SSS has been the backbone of me in college since the moment I was accepted into it. I cannot imagine not having the support system that I gained with SSS. There are so many meetings with advisors and mentors that I always know that I have someone I can talk to. When I had a bad roommate, my advisor got me to people who could help. Two hours later, I had a new room in a much nicer building, with a great roommate.
My advisor is a Grad student, which is awesome because we like the same things. Technically we are not supposed to use them as counselor, but my mentor is so nice and if I want to use her as my therapist during our meetings, she is all ears.
I have learned a lot about various programs and places. Because of SSS I know how to use Health Services, the Counseling Center, the Writing Center, the library catalog search, and the Career Center.
SSS saved my college experience. As a first-year college student who didn’t know anything, I would have been so lost if it wasn’t for the Student Support Services.