From her seat at the front desk in O’Neill’s third-floor office, Public Safety Management major Heather Johnson helps students, answers emails, and gets people where they need to go. Heather is a student employee with O’Neill, and learning each day not only about her major, but also about how higher education functions.
In December 2025, Heather will do what no one else in her family has done: complete a college degree.
“I decided I wanted to attend college to gain more knowledge,” she says.” I always loved learning, and I thought college would help me grow, mentally and financially.”
The O’Neill School at IU Indianapolis is home to 150 first-generation students—nearly 30% of the school—and Heather is one of them. First-gen students are the first in their families to attend college. While that designation carries with it an enormous amount of pride and can change a family’s trajectory forever, it also can include barriers and obstacles other students never face.
Heather says her family was excited for her to attend college, but excitement was all they could provide for support.
“I had to do everything on my own until I found my place at O’Neill,” she recalls. “That was the hardest part of starting college as a First-Gen student. I was not familiar with degree names, advising, credits, financial aid, scholarships, internships, or what to expect.”
She says the second hardest part was overcoming some of the preconceived ideas her family held once her experience in higher education began.
“My family always encouraged me to pursue a degree, but once I began my studies, they struggled to understand some of the perspectives and ideas I was being exposed to,” she says. “I think it challenged some of their long-held beliefs, which created a bit of tension. Over time, I’ve learned how to navigate those differences while staying true to both my values and my education.”
Beyond overcoming obstacles in her personal life, Heather says the hardest part of college for her was trying to fake it to make it.
She looks back now and says, “Instead of asking for help or clarification, I would pretend to know what all the acronyms stood for, and that delayed my progress because if I had been honest from the beginning, more people would have been able to help me.”
Many of those people, she says, are now her coworkers in the O’Neill office as part of O’Neill’s Student Services team.
“Truthfully, I would have not been able to succeed in my classes or maintain my mental health without Debbie Koliba, Stacy Lozer, and Alivia Slone’s help.”
That’s why she stresses that other first-gen students need to set aside their pride and not be afraid to admit what they don’t know and to instead find the people who do and rely on them.
“Ask for help,” she says. “Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed. Instead lean on the people who are here to support you, the O’Neill family.”
