{"id":172166,"date":"2026-03-05T14:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=172166"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:28:42","slug":"first-generation-student-mentors-help-peers-navigate-academics-social-life-at-bates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/05\/first-generation-student-mentors-help-peers-navigate-academics-social-life-at-bates\/","title":{"rendered":"First-generation student mentors help peers navigate academics, social life at Bates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since her freshman year, Sheila Robledo \u201926 of Alton, Texas, has spent a lot of time in Bates\u2019 Student Center for Belonging and Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s just one of my favorite places on campus, to be honest,\u201d Robledo says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SCBC is home to many of Bates\u2019 community-building events and programs, including the college\u2019s first-generation student programs: Bobcat First, which all first-gen students are automatically enrolled in, and Kessler Scholars, a smaller and newer program within Bobcat First.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robledo, a Bobcat First student, found community and support in Bates\u2019 first-gen programming. That mentorship program, through which older Bobcat First students mentor students who are new to Bates, had a major impact on her, particularly as a first-year student when she turned to her peer mentor Belize Iteriteka \u201923 for advice about adjusting to life at Bates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a mentor was such a big deal for me,\u201d Robledo says. \u201cI hadn\u2019t toured campus. I didn’t know what I was going to do, who I was going to be friends with, and it was just a whole new experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
First-generation peer mentor Sheila Robledo \u201926, of Alton, Texas, hangs out in the Student Center for Belonging and Community, home to Bates first-generation student programs. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Robledo wanted to offer other students the same support she received from Iteriteka, so she became a first-gen peer mentor her sophomore year and is now in her third year in the role. She is one of eight mentors for the 2025\u20132026 academic year, each of them hosting one hour of drop-in sessions weekly in the SCBC, where they field questions about everything from academics to internships to navigating the Bates social scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misa Beltran-Guzman, director of first-gen student programs<\/a> at Bates, oversees the first-gen peer mentorship program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst-gen students are aware of the help and support they received to get to a place like Bates, and they are eager to repay or pay forward the encouragement, community, and mentorship they received along their educational journey,\u201d Beltran-Guzman says. \u201cPeer mentorship and student-to-student support are core to what we do: it develops the mentors as leaders while providing mentees with an approachable and genuine source of support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-gen peer mentorship extends beyond the walls of the SCBC. For mentor Ross Tejeda \u201926 of Milton, Mass., and mentee Alex Rodgers \u201929 of Lowell, Mass., some of their best conversations happen when the two track and cross country athletes are running dozens of miles together each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Alex ever has anything that he wants to talk about, he’ll bring it up there,\u201d Tejeda says. \u201cIt’s just something we can chat about, and it always comes up naturally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Alex Rodgers \u201929 (left) of Lowell, Mass., meets with his first-generation peer mentor Ross Tejeda \u201926, of Milton, Mass., in the Student Center for Belonging and Community. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They had an early jump on the mentor-mentee relationship. Tejeda hosted Rodgers for an overnight visit when he was a high school student touring campus. They connected over similar childhood experiences, their shared home state of Massachusetts, and music \u2014 despite differing opinions on the Kendrick Lamar versus Drake drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have these shared experiences of things that we’ve gone through in the past, and it’s just good to be able to have someone to connect with,\u201d Rodgers says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he was a freshman, Tejeda\u2019s own mentor, Abraham Mieses \u201923, took him \u201cunder his wing\u201d and helped him learn to navigate social spaces at Bates as a man of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn these spaces that are predominantly white, it’s really easy for you to fall into a certain way of being and almost, at times, abandon who you really are to assimilate into these spaces,\u201d Tejeda says. \u201cHe did a really good job of guiding me through that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Robledo, Tejeda is now paying it forward, supporting other students in the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a good opportunity, once you learn the ropes, to share them with other people,\u201d Tejeda says. \u201cYou have a duty or responsibility \u2014 at least me specifically, as a Dominican, first-gen student-athlete. I feel like I can really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Mentor Ross Tejeda \u201926 (left) of Milton, Mass., chats with mentee Alex Rodgers \u201929 of Lowell, Mass., in the Student Center for Belonging and Community. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tejeda, who is a double major in economics and English, has guided Rodgers, who plans to major in economics, along his academic path. Robledo, a biology major, has done the same for mentee and biology major Andrea Alfonzo \u201928 of Cary, N.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a mentor shaped a lot of the way I navigate through school,\u201d Alfonzo says. \u201cI do have somebody to talk to if I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt’s a good opportunity, once you learn the ropes, to share them with other people. You have a duty or responsibility \u2014 at least me specifically, as a Dominican, first-gen student-athlete. I feel like I can really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\nRoss Tejeda \u201926 on the importance of first-generation peer mentorship<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For Robledo, part of a mentor\u2019s responsibility is affirming to mentees that while they may experience challenges in college, they will be capable of overcoming them \u2014 and they won\u2019t be doing it alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, I cried when I failed exams,\u201d Robledo tells her mentees. \u201cI’ve stumbled, and I’ve fallen, but we all get back up, and I’ll help you get back up in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, through the process of reflecting on what mentees need, mentors gain new insights into themselves. When Shristi Tamang \u201928 of Kathmandu, Nepal, advises her mentees to seek out help or tutoring if they need it, she\u2019s reminded that as a first-year student at Bates, she was hesitant to ask for academic support after never seeking out tutoring as a high school student.\u00a0 Now, she confidently reminds her mentees that they don\u2019t have to do everything on their own and that it is OK to ask for help \u2014 even if you are a mentor yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat shift feels like I’m growing,\u201d Tamang says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
In the Student Center for Belonging and Community, first-generation peer mentor Shristi Tamang \u201928 of Kathmandu, Nepal, chats with mentee Margaret Ndirangu \u201929 of Nyahururu, Kenya. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tamang hopes to help other students navigate the imposter syndrome that students of color at a predominantly white institution may experience. Bates\u2019 first-gen student programs offer a safe space to explore this subject, Tamang says, which felt more taboo in high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe program made me feel like it’s an identity that is celebrated rather than something that is hidden,\u201d Tamang says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Margaret Ndirangu \u201929 of Nyahururu, Kenya, arrived at Bates, she found herself in a new educational system, unsure how to balance school with searching for jobs and internships. Tamang stepped in with advice and action; she helped Ndirangu secure a job at Ladd Library and showed her how to search for fellowship and internship opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving someone you can talk to who’s also a student and more like a friend \u2026 it has been helpful,\u201d Ndirangu says. \u201cI don’t know if I would be where I am, especially with my job and figuring out what I should do, if I didn’t talk to her.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-gen programs at Bates offer a suite of other support and programming opportunities, such as collaborations with the Center for Purposeful Work and the STEM Scholars program, which provides mentoring, coursework, and community to a select cohort of students, including those traditionally underrepresented in science and mathematics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Peer mentor Shristi Tamang \u201928 of Kathmandu, Nepal, advises mentee Margaret Ndirangu \u201929 of Nyahururu, Kenya. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond formal programming, students gather in the SCBC for fun and food between classes and during weekly First-Generation Snack and Chats. Robledo has spent countless hours there with her Bobcat First cohort, from their Bates pre-orientation to their senior year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m growing up with them,\u201d Robledo says. \u201cTo think that I’ll be graduating with them soon in a couple of months, it’s a bittersweet moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as the Class of 2026 Bobcat First cohort graduates, their wisdom won\u2019t be lost. They have already passed it down to their mentees, many of whom will likely become mentors themselves and return the same favor to the next generation of Batesies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Student Center for Belonging and Community, first-generation Bates students mentor their younger peers, providing guidance on everything from academics to internships to social life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":172238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172166"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172254,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172166\/revisions\/172254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}