Cooper Scanlon, Class of 2023

Being first-generation and low-income first affected me by filling me with embarrassment. It was the shame I felt pulling up to school in a squeaky, dirty truck. It was the powerless feeling I felt when it was my turn to answer what my parents did for a living.

Vanderbilt had charged me a significant amount of tuition and because my dad couldn’t afford to pay for it and my mom wouldn’t pay for it, I had to cover it on my own. This gave me severe stress and anxiety because I had to take out loans to pay for Vanderbilt, and even then it was still more than I could manage for four years. I missed out on a lot of social events in my first semester because I didn’t feel comfortable at my own school. The writing was on the wall that I wasn’t welcome unless I took on immense debt to be given my social mobility ticket.

Dean Gresalfi and Dean Dobson have both been wonderful allies to me. Dean Gresalfi has gone to bat for me multiple times to help me fix out my financial aid situation by getting me more aid from the school. She also helped set up Student Care appointments with me so that I could receive more help for the anxiety I was feeling.

Quick tip: I love buying and selling clothing. Using apps like Grailed helped me feel better about my background by allowing me to wear things that I normally wouldn’t be able to. It feels great to buy something nice for a fraction of the cost, wear it for a while, and then resell it.