BIZAYE BANJAW
’21
As a first-generation, first-year student, I’ve already begun to rely on the resources offered through Tufts’ FIRST Center. These resources, as it turns out, have a dynamic, student-led history—one that Bizaye Banjaw ’21 has been part of since her arrival at Tufts. Bizaye Banjaw is the daughter of Ethiopian parents and has lived in Maryland her entire life. She never imagined herself going to college until a friend recommended that she apply to Collegiate Directions, a college readiness program specifically for low-income students. The program fueled her motivation to apply to college and supplied her with the information she needed to navigate financial aid. “All of it was really this beautiful form of success and hardship,” she says. With the help of an organization that prepared her for nearly two-anda-half years, Bizaye headed to Tufts with a strong foundation on how to overcome the barriers tied to the first-generation and low-income identity. Soon after coming to Tufts, Bizaye reached out to Dr. Rob Mack, Chief Diversity Officer for the Medford and SMFA campuses, to get information on reducing the cost of textbooks. “After that interaction, I knew him as a person who was willing to help me and understand where I’m coming from— which was great to have,” she states. Later, she responded to a student’s Facebook post, which asked if any students were interested in being part of the First-Generation Student Council. That student was Anne Hall ’19, who Bizaye credits with taking the initiative to expand the support for firstgeneration and low-income students on campus. 16
When Bizaye first got involved in the First-Gen Council, meetings consisted of her, Anne Hall, and Prince Shaw ’20 gathered in a Tisch Library study room, completely unaware of the tremendous expansion that was to come. The council hosted frequent dinners at the Women’s Center and planned a variety of events where first-gen and lowincome students could get to know each other. “Essentially, we wanted to build a community. Being first-gen and low-income is an invisible identity. You can’t see if someone’s of this identity the way you see someone’s race. Students being able to say ‘hi’ to each other when walking up Professor’s Row and feeling like they are not in it alone—that was the mission,” she beams. Bizaye and the other leaders of the First-Gen Council remained in close contact with administrators, who agreed there wasn’t enough support for students like them at Tufts. After gaining the support to expand from casual get-togethers to thorough, staffed, and wellfunded programs specifically for their identities, the feeling of support started to improve drastically. Throughout Bizaye’s time at Tufts, she has witnessed the establishment of the FIRST Center, the growth of the First-Gen Council, and the introduction of the BEAST (Building Engagement and Access for Students at Tufts) pre-orientation program, which she has helped plan since its conception her first year. While her involvement with the First-Gen Council has been a big part of her life at Tufts, Bizaye’s academic journey is just as compelling. As an English major, which she joyfully describes as “a
four-year book club,” Bizaye is not confined by a plethora of strict, required courses and can cater to her wide variety of academic interests. She’s quick to note that she isn’t double majoring or minoring: she’s an English major who is not willing to succumb to the societal expectation to “crunch numbers” and the intense pressure on first-gen students to get well-paying jobs after graduation. She’s more focused on coming out of college satisfied with her education and feeling like she is better because of it. “Can I give you one last thing?” Bizaye asks as our interview comes to an end, before offering me one of the most refreshing perspectives I’ve heard as a college student thus far. “I want to say this to first-gen, low-income students and students with undocumented status specifically: college is a space where you have the time, the fortune, the privilege to ask yourself what you want from this world,” she tells me. “And you have people who are encouraging you to ask yourself that. Not just what you want to do after you graduate or choosing your career—those are very conventional forms of the question. What are you willing to ask for? What are you willing to work for? If you had the world in your hand, what would you take from it? These are questions I wasn’t taught to ask. They’re really beautiful questions—but really hard ones. Don’t take them as a burden.” —VALERIA VELASQUEZ ’23
PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER
ENGLISH MAJOR FROM BETHESDA, MD