Reimagining Methods to Socially Connect First-gen Students During a Remote Semester

Entering college can be a challenge for any incoming first-year student. However, entering college during a worldwide pandemic is challenging for all first-year students. This academic year, students across the country began their first-year of college unlike any others have done in the past. Because of this, institution administrators, faculty, and staff worked tirelessly to devise plans in order to make these students’ experiences positive, even though in reality, their experiences would be nothing close to traditional.

Lafayette College made the decision in August to proceed with a virtual, remote learning semester. While a select number of students were permitted to return to campus, the majority of our student population, faculty, administrators, and staff have remained home since March. Because of this, the Office of Advising and Co-Curricular Programs had to reimagine the student transition process.

Although first-year students are classified as one incoming class, we know that this class of students consists of many varying backgrounds. One cohort within the Class of 2024 that, as advisors, we wanted to pay particular interest to is the first-generation student population. We knew that now, more than ever, due to the increased responsibilities they could be facing at home and a lack of connection to campus, both academically and socially, additional layers of support needed to be implemented.

As the semester developed, it became apparent that although remote courses were generally not preferred over in-person courses, students were managing to get through. However, there was one key component of the first-year experience that these students were desperately craving: a social connection with their peers. But how, in this new found virtual academic world, focused on interacting via Zoom meetings, could we possibly find a meaningful way to connect our first-generation population with other students? How does one foster a new relationship through a computer screen? In order to develop more meaningful connections, we decided to take a chance and revert back to an old school method: pen pals. We encouraged our first-generation students across all academic classes to pick up pen and paper, craft a letter to a new found pen pal, and discover the excitement and anticipation of opening the mailbox to be welcomed by a letter from your new acquaintance.

To our surprise, the students were craving this new method of connection and found it exciting to experience a way to develop relationships in a way they only have ever read about.

When we planned the program, we assigned an upper class first-generation student to a first-year, first-generation student. That way, the upper class student could share his/her experiences as a Lafayette student and the first-year student could gain a perspective of what they can anticipate life to be like when they return to campus in-person in the spring semester.

As we continue to monitor the program and watch it evolve, it is refreshing to hear that the students are genuinely interested and excited to learn about their pen pals from afar. Yes, they could easily email one another or open up a Zoom session to meet each other face to face, however after speaking to many of the pen pals, they are choosing to stick to the pen and paper method, anxiously awaiting the return letters from their new friend.

The ultimate goal of this program was to establish a non-traditional (for the 21st century) method of connecting this cohort of students during a remote setting. While this was the first attempt at something that we weren’t sure a student in 2020 would be interested in, I’m excited to announce that the students who are participating are enjoying the time thus far. If I’m being honest, I never thought I’d see the day when college age students were actually tired of being on their computer, tablets, and cellphones. Did we really think asking students to connect via the pen pal method was going to work? To our surprise, the students were craving this new method of connection and found it exciting to experience a way to develop relationships in a way they only have ever read about.

As we slowly continue to adjust to life during a pandemic, it is gratifying that we were able to introduce these students to a new found skill that helps open their eyes to life outside of technology. While the pandemic has been a challenge for all to navigate, I’m optimistic that it has challenged our students to envision their college experience as a learning experience. Has their first year been different than expected? Absolutely. But it has certainly not been a complete failure. Our students will become more resilient than ever because of this, and for that, I am excited to watch them grow whether we continue to live in a socially distant world or as we slowly revert back to college life as we knew it before.

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For more information on Lafayette College's approach, please visit their website here.