Alanna Gillis

Alanna Gillis, Assistant Professor of Sociology

I was lucky enough enough to have both of my parents go to college, but I did not truly realize how lucky I was until I got to graduate school, a place no one in my family had ever considered going before. Suddenly, in my joint Master's and PhD program in Sociology, I was surrounded by all this new language that I had no idea what it meant. What was the academy? What was the difference between an Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor? And I was confused about how to interact with my professors. I knew how to talk to my high school teachers and college professors, but did that change in grad school? If so, how? 

I made various errors without realizing it--the most serious being that I did not correctly enroll in the university and almost lost my place in the program. I was embarrassed and ashamed, thinking these mistakes and missing knowledge were my fault, so I rarely asked anyone for advice. My peers had grown up speaking this language and knowing these rules; the things they did not know, they easily turned to parents, cousins, or older friends for advice. Meanwhile, I kept my mouth shut, hoping no one would notice that I did not belong. 

Eventually I found my way, thanks to a fantastic mentor who helped me see that these problems weren't my fault. Higher education is confusing in ways that people who are not first generation often do not see. Since then, I've been dedicated to teaching, researching, and doing service work to trying to make higher education more accessible for everyone. In my research I talk to students about the problems they face, in my teaching I teach about inequality in higher education, and in my service work I try to implement changes to make higher education work better for first-generation students. I am not a first-gen student, but I have the highest respect for students who go through this overwhelming new process. I will try my best to provide any resources, knowledge, or help that I can!