Naomi Girson | staff writer

Both of Kelsey Molitoris’s parents dropped out of college before receiving their degrees. She, however, will be the first in her family to graduate from college.

Duquesne University held a First-Generation Student Celebration in the Student Union on Nov. 8 to honor the almost 30% of the student population that falls into this category.

First-generation students are the first in their bloodline to attend and graduate from a four-year university.
Kelsey Molitoris

Molitoris is a senior, studying psychology. She plans to attend graduate school after graduating from her program and hopes to become a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma pathology.

Molitoris, the oldest of three girls, is like a trendsetter for her younger siblings, one of which has followed her down the college route and the other, still in high school, who plans to attend university.

As an example for the rest of her family, she has maintained a strong sense of independence, all the while building connections and harvesting opportunities — both giving her chances for socializing as well as helping her with her future pursuits.

Since freshman year, she has been an employee in the Career Development Center, working directly under Lynn Swartzmiller, administrative assistant and Career Closet coordinator.

Swartzmiller and Molitoris worked closely for the last three years, but Molitoris was not able to keep the position for this semester. It was a huge loss for their department and for Swartzmiller personally.

“She was so personable, she was hard working. She was very, very dedicated. I absolutely loved having her here with me,” Swartzmiller said. “She engaged with students, staff, and always leaned in.”

In the Career Development Center, Bethany Gary, Molitoris’s career consultant, and also a first-generation student, was not previously aware that she and Molitoris had that in common. After learning Molitoris was a first-gen student she reflected on how that shined through in her work ethic.

“As a first-gen person myself, I feel like I had to be super resourceful because I didn’t have a lot of guidance growing up on what college would look like,” Gary said. “And so Kelsey has done a really great job of navigating the university system, and just asking a lot of questions, and using her resources.”

Molitoris is also in the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority and an active member of Duquesne Program Council, both of which gave her opportunities to meet new people, make friends and run events for the student population on campus.

“Duquesne, just in general, is very helpful,” Molitoris said. “They really make it feel like a strong community and family. And they have a lot of resources that can help you excel in your schoolwork and in your future career as well.”

Jason Garland Jr.

Business owner, entrepreneur and artist Jason Garland Jr. is putting himself through college as he studies finance and entrepreneurship at Duquesne.

He’s in his second year as a student but college was not always in the cards for him.

His main roadblock as he surveyed is options after high school graduation was the financial toll that higher education can take. Luckily for him, he was able to find ways around this through determination and help from faculty from Duquesne and surrounding areas.

“I interacted with a few key mentors who just basically got me involved with Duquesne faculty, as well as faculty from other universities, and that kind of got me interested in Duquesne, “ Garland said. “Prior, it was too expensive, ‘I’ll figure out another way to be successful’.”During his senior year, after deciding to try to pursue a college education, he devoted himself to applying for as many scholarships as possible, a second job as he put it, and was able to come out with enough to make it through college.

Garland received help and encouragement from Taj-Aya Barnes, senior assistant director in the admissions department at Duquesne.

She was blown away by his extensive, vibrant resume and advocated for him to be awarded scholarships they could offer him.

Barnes recalled that though his parents did not go to college, both of them were entrepreneurs in their own right and may very well be the reason Garland seems so naturally drawn to business start-ups and creative outlets.

“I think he took what he saw his parents do, but also what he learned in school and his passion, and kind of combined them into one to be able to also go down the business route, but go the more traditional route of going to college as a first gen,” Barnes said.

Though he is only 19, Garland said that almost every year he takes on a new business venture. His first, JG’s Plant Nursery, was inspired by a civics class he took in high school in which they were assigned to make a business. He did and in the process found such a passion and success with it that he legitimized it.

Through this business, he was able to start profiting beyond the bounds of the classroom and earned himself publicity on CBS News for his independence and innovation at just 17-years-old.

Quincy Stevenson, executive director of student inclusion at Duquesne, remembers seeing Garland’s smile when they met.

“[He’s] very, very active on campus. He’s doing a wonderful job taking care of his business in the classroom, which is important, but he’s also active and involved,” Stevenson said. “He makes his presence known in the office, always volunteers to support in any way that he can.”