Bethany Mooney is the first member of her immediate family to go to university.
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So Federation University’s First in Family forum held recently proved invaluable.
Ms Mooney, from Bairnsdale, is doing a Bachelor of Management after initially working as a local government administration assistant.
“My parents didn’t go to university so I’m the first in my family to do so,” she said, adding the university had provided her with a lot of support.
Guest speaker Associate Professor Sarah O’Shea from the University of Wollongong said first in family students often had “additional but invisible” issues they had to deal with.
“First in family can be a form of celebration (and) we want to embrace them,” she said.
Federation University’s deputy vice chancellor learning and quality Professor Marcia Devlin said there were many services to help first in families, including the FedReady program to prepare for life at university and peer assistance study sessions.
