Every year, Elon University picks one book to help incoming students start important conversations. This year’s pick is “First Gen: a memoir” by Alejandra Campoverdi — and it’s already got people talking.
The book, chosen as part of Elon’s Common Reading Program, dives into Campoverdi’s experience as a first-generation college student. She writes about identity, family expectations and the pressure of being the “first and only” in spaces that weren’t made for her. Associate Director of First-Year Initiatives Paula Patch is the chair of the Common Reading Committee, and said she believes the book is helping freshman students think differently about what it means to start something new.
“We all recognized that it was a great opportunity to highlight the important work of the Center for Access and Success, and of the first-gen student services, and to make sure people are aware that we have a lot of first gen students on our campus, and we have a lot of first gen faculty and staff, and to celebrate that population,” said Patch.
The Common Reading Program is part of Elon’s First-Year Experience, which aims to help students feel connected and supported from the moment they arrive on campus. The program brings together students, professors, advisors and staff around a shared story to spark conversation.
Each year, the committee in charge of selecting the book reviews a list of recommendations. They’re not just picking a light summer read, they’re choosing something they think will matter to students.
“We just look at a broad range of books and then figure out which one seems to make the most sense for the campus community, and particularly the incoming students at any given time,” Patch said.
Kenneth Brown Jr., assistant director of First-Generation Student Support Services, said the book’s selection was both meaningful and long anticipated. He works directly with Elon’s first-gen student population and said he sees the challenges they face every day.
“My first reaction was excitement,” Brown said. “Excitement that ‘First Gen’ was selected as a book and excited for this population of students on campus to be a little more elevated in the spotlight and just more awareness about some of their experiences.”
Brown said he believes the book doesn’t just describe the pressure of being the first in your family to go to college. It also reveals how deeply personal that journey is, especially when family dynamics, culture and financial stress intersect.
“Alejandra talks about being a trailblazer, and both the negatives and the positives of it. Connecting to this idea of being the first person to kind of set that bar when they didn’t have much guidance to help them along,” Brown said. “There can be some kind of unspoken expectations, or spoken expectations, which can cause a student to maybe not reach full potential. It just adds a lot of weight to their experience.”
Committee members and staff emphasized that all students can find something to connect with in Campoverdi’s memoir. Patch believes the emotions in the book — self-doubt, pressure, feeling out of place — are things most students feel at some point.
“Even students who aren’t first gen will be surprised that there’s something in there that they recognize,” Patch said. “They’ll be expecting something difficult or more like a textbook. And I think they’ll be surprised that, no, we can also take seriously someone’s life and lived experience.”
Brandy Propst, director of Elon 1010, assistant director of academic advising and another member of the selection committee, said the book works well in freshmen courses because it opens the door for honest conversations not just about academics, but about students’ real lives.
Propst first discovered the book while attending a student affairs conference, where Campoverdi was the closing speaker. Propst said she was so moved by her story that she pushed to add the book to Elon’s consideration list, even though the official deadline had already passed.
“I got emotional in the audience when she talked about the breakaway guilt,” Propst said. “It hit me when she said it, because I never thought about it that way. It was just something that was a lived experience but never had a name.”
Breakaway guilt is the feeling of leaving family or community behind while pursuing new opportunities, a pressure that many first-generation students may experience when they step into spaces that their loved ones have not.
Patch also connected with the book on a personal level. She describes herself as “semi first-gen” and said parts of Campoverdi’s story brought back powerful memories from her own life. Patch said she calls herself “semi first-gen” because one of her parents finished college later in life as a nontraditional student while the other earned only a high school diploma.
“I identified a lot with her experience. There were moments when I would read her descriptions, and it wasn’t so much about going to college. It’s about just forming your identity,” Patch said. “I would read things and have to put it down. I was very moved. Almost like I wanted to cry, because I was like, ‘That feels like I could have written that.’”
Students can access a digital copy in the “Welcome” module of the “An Introduction to the 2025-2026 Common Reading” course on Moodle.
In addition to being available through Moodle, the book will be discussed in orientation sessions and is encouraged for use in Elon 1010 classes. Peer educators and instructors are being encouraged to support discussions by telling their own stories, according to Propst.
“Sharing your stories helps students understand, like, ‘Hey, I know that these are things that you may be struggling with,’” Propst said. “‘Here are some things that worked for me.’”
Brown said creating safe spaces where students feel seen and heard is one of the most important goals of his office and of the book.
“Creating spaces where first gen students can talk about, ‘This is how I’m feeling about this. This is what I’m experiencing.’ And that’s important,” Brown said.
Campoverdi is expected to visit Elon on Sept. 18 for a campus talk and Q&A with students. Members of the faculty and staff said they’re excited to welcome her and even more excited to keep the conversations going.
“Most people can find something in there that will help them feel like they aren’t alone,” Patch said, “and that there are ways that they can then navigate that experience.”
Brown said this year’s Common Reading book will help spark conversations and personal reflections on the college journey.
“Your diploma doesn’t mean anything if you didn’t do anything in between the time you came to Elon and the time you graduate,” he said. “‘First Gen’ helps us all think about that journey.”