FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE FOR NATIVE AMERICAN FRESHMEN: The University of Arizona First-Year Scholars Program

Sara is Diné from a small community on the Navajo reservation and is the first in her family to attend college. Mixed feelings of excitement and fear surfaced when she first stepped onto the vast and unfamiliar campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. Raised by her grandmother, she respected her traditional upbringing and personified the Navajo values of humility and hard work. She graduated with honors from high school and was determined to go to college. At freshman orientation, Sara stood among her peers, who appeared to be excited about college, and wondered for a moment if she belonged. Students rushed by her in stylish clothes, some talking on cell phones and all having a sense of confidence. Several of the students and their parents were seeking out resources and asking questions of the orientation staff. Many of the parents were inquisitive and appeared to navigate the college campus with ease. Sara attended orientation with her mother. Her father, a seasoned construction worker, was not able to attend because he was in another state working to provide for his family. Sara’s mom, unfamiliar with the environment, relied on Sara to navigate them through orientation. Sara felt alone and confused going through the orientation experience. Recognizing her daughter’s discomfort, Sara’s mother asked the orientation staffif there was an office that provided services to Native American students. The staffreferred her to the Native American student affairs (NASA) office located centrally on campus. While Sara remained in an orientation meeting, her mother visited NASA and met with and talked to the director, sharing her worries about her daughter coming to a big and unfamiliar university. After this brief visit to NASA and learning more about the programs and services the office provided, she started to feel more positive about Sara’s 26 chances of surviving at a big university. When she reunited with Sara, she gave her daughter the director’s business card. Immediately Sara took notice of the director’s last name, “Begay,” a common Navajo surname. Sara was surprised but delighted because she was instantly familiar with the name “Begay” and assumed that the director had ties to the Navajo reservation and was maybe even clan-related. She commented, “Mom, I think I am going to be fine.” Her confidence started to peak once she knew there was a “relative” at a place where she felt alone.