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23 WINTER 2023 points of connection and ways students can communicate so they don't feel overwhelmed or lonely," she says. "It's nice to have a community away from home," says Fernandez. A key component of the program is an accompanying course that meets twice a month. Each one-hour session covers a specific topic, including financial aid, mental health, and networking. Moreno says he appreciates the program's financial resources, noting that in high school, he missed this type of information because it was often offered after school, when he, like many first gen students, had to head to his job or go home to take care of his younger sibling. In one ROSCOE session, he learned about a scholarship program for third- and fourth-year students he hopes to take advantage of. "If I didn't take this class, I would have no knowledge of that," he says. "We're able to meet the requests of what our students want to know," says Pancsofar. Faculty members have led information sessions about study-abroad opportuni- ties specific to the teaching profession, and Pancsofar has brought in alumni to talk about what the student-teaching experience was like for them. "The ROSCOE program really enriches what we do," says Johnson, who compares it to similar school-specific mentoring programs in nursing and business. "We deal with the development of the person. They deal with the develop- ment of the profession," he says. "They're going to be good teachers," says Pancsofar. "What I'm hoping is that they're going to be more confident and more apt to embrace leadership opportunities and that they will continue on to advanced degrees at higher rates." "ROSCOE has helped me become a well-rounded student," says Fernandez. "When I become an educator, I want to take what I have learned and apply it to my class- room and to my own students." "We have such talented and motivated first generation college students," says Pancsofar. "This is just the beginning." ■ Muriel Vega is an Atlanta-based freelance writer. Her work has been in The Washington Post, The Guardian, and VICE. Several themes emerged from those interviews: Students were proud to be the first in their families to attend college but felt tremendous pressure to succeed; they had the drive to do well but, at the same time, doubted their abilities; and they sometimes had difficulty connecting culturally with others on campus. "We got this little snapshot of what students experi- ence, and those themes informed the way we designed the program," Pancsofar says. Pancsofar was careful to build from what had already existed at the college. "We didn't want to be redundant or to over-mentor," she says. The ROSCOE Educators program pairs first-year mentees with upperclass mentors who are in the same department within the School of Education as much as possible. This helps the pairs bond as they talk about classes, professors, and experiences they have had. Each student also gets one-on-one meetings with faculty mentors to explore college, career, and personal issues. Fernandez, who has also had mentorships in the EOF program, views ROSCOE as one more avenue to help her succeed. "It adds yet another bridge," she says. "It connects students with professors within the program early on." Jaramillo believes the intimacy of the student and faculty mentors sets the program apart from other mentoring programs that she has been a part of. "There are multiple Nadya Pancsofar and student researcher Lizzeth Jaramillo

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