Olivares 1

Diana Olivares

Bailey Hamblin

English 134

11 February 2018

A Home Away From Home

Hidden away in a corner on the fifth floor of Robert E. Kennedy Library is a

spacious study room with a small kitchen, large windows overlooking Cal Poly, and

many tables where you can study alone or in groups. By the door, pictures of students

who did Summer Institute (a four-week intensive program in the summer) brings back

memories of first experiencing sharing a room, eating campus food, and pulling

all-nighters. Next to those pictures are event flyers that EOP (Educational Opportunity

Program) hosts, like barbeques, workshops, and additional services that help their

students connect with others and be successful in college.

EOP is a program for first-generation, low-income students that provides support

and counseling to have us be successful in our journey of completing a higher

education. EOP has multiple spaces on campus including their main office and the

dorm hall Tenaya, but their study space is the most used and most accessible to an

EOP student. Only first-year students can live in Tenaya, and their main office isn’t big

enough to have more than one person studying. The only downside of this study space

is that it’s only open on the weekends for the majority of the quarter because it is used

as a conference room as well. However, during finals week, when the library is packed

full of stressed students, the study space is open during the week for us to use. The
 Olivares 2

goal of EOP is to help students succeed and having a reserved area is a resource that

the program has given us to use for us to achieve. So there is no excuse for EOP

students to not go to the library during a busy period of the quarter and prepare for

exams. This study space is a safe space for EOP students who are able to study with

their Summer Institute peers and connect with others who know what it’s like being a

minority in Cal Poly. It’s a space where I can deepen my connections with older

students who have given first-year students like myself great advice on how to navigate

college.

The program provides financial resources like scholarships that a fellow EOP

peer, Hailey claims that “without that extra help I wouldn’t be able to afford to live on

campus.” Even if she lives thirty minutes away from campus, EOP thinks it is important

to have all first-year students get the “full experience” of being a college student. Living

on campus versus living at home and commuting daily is a huge impact on the way a

student like Hailey makes connections in college. For her living on campus “makes [her]

feel like [she’s] not alone.” The counselors hold workshops in fall quarter that have to do

with how to read your financial aid package, how to budget, and even how to apply for

food stamps. They give us so much vital information that we wouldn’t be able to access

because we wouldn’t know where to look or who to ask if it wasn’t for that program.

Cal Poly being a predominantly white institute, the demographic is obviously

shown in the library, being surrounded by people who don’t look like you can cause this

anxiety sometimes to the extreme of feeling the “imposter syndrome” (feeling a lack of

self-confidence, anxiety, doubting yourself, etc). Many EOP students have experienced
 Olivares 3

imposter syndrome, questioning themselves if they are worthy of taking up space in an

institution like Cal Poly. Hailey explains that “having a study space where people who

like you and have had similar experiences makes you feel like you are a part of a

community.” Not looking like the rest of the demographic may not seem like a big deal

to many on this campus, but the anxiety builds up especially after attending a school

like Cal Poly for at least four years. EOP gives its students a sense of belonging in an

environment where it may not feel welcoming. Hailey and I being first-generation

students, we experience times where we want to go home and be with the people we

feel the most comfortable, fortunately having EOP on campus provides that “home” for

us. Hailey explains how this sense of community “encourages students to be a part of

something bigger than themselves,” without EOP we would’ve been lost with no

guidance. Since I could remember, the only path to college was to go to a community

college and hope that you don’t get stuck there for more than two years and hopefully

transfer to your local four-year university. With EOP, I can be in a different city in a

four-year university, and Hailey expressed how “most first-generation take the

community college path and go on with their lives...EOP inspires us to be a leader”.

During midterm and finals season many EOP students take advantage of the

study room and immediately walking in, you can feel a welcoming environment. It’s

empowering to see people who come from different walks of life working hard to

achieve a great accomplishment. One of them being the first in their family to graduate

and open doors of opportunities for themselves. Every time I go during a stressful time, I

can always find someone to give me a pep talk, a “¡si se puede!” (yes you can!), and
 Olivares 4

more words of encouragement. In this room meant for studying, it brings out more than

finishing homework; it brings out my most comfortable and confident self. Hailey

expresses how she feels like “I’m not alone” when she goes into the study room. I notice

how in the classroom I never share my opinion or answer questions for fear of being

judged by the majority or for the fear that my opinion will be “wrong” compared to this

campuses more conservative perspectives. In the study room I can voice my opinions

with no fear, and if someone else has a different view, we can respectfully have a

conversation without feeling belittled or less than.

Many may see this room as a regular study room, but don’t realize the

importance the space has for students like Hailey and I. It’s a small piece on campus

that we can call “home” with our EOP family. EOP plays a crucial role on campus

because it helps with first-generation, low-income students stay in college and most

importantly graduate college. Cal Poly knows it has a problem with diversity and

inclusiveness but allowing a space for EOP students is taking action in changing the

campus’s demographic to be more welcoming for students like Hailey and I. The study

room on the fifth floor is a home away from home that encourages, empowers, and

welcomes “a broken crayon that still colors”.

Works Cited:

Gutierrez, Hailey. Personal Interview. 3 February 2019.