91�ȱ���

 91�ȱ��� Stories      May 5, 2025

By Cam Adams

When Madison Coup takes her walk across the stage, she’s going to relish in it. But on that walk, she’s going to be looking for a couple faces in the crowd: her parents’.

That’s when it’s going to hit her.

“They both cried at my high school graduation, and that seemed like nothing to me, but college is hard,” Coup said. “I think they're pretty pleased, not only with the fact that I'm graduating, but I'm graduating with a competitive GPA, leadership skills, all the things I never thought I'd be capable of doing when I got here.”

The integrated health science major from Clemmons is one of many first-generation college students breaking down barriers at Western Carolina University this spring commencement on May 9 and 10.

First-generation college students are defined as students who had neither parent graduate from a four-year higher education institution. About one-third of 91�ȱ���’s undergraduate student population are first-generation college students.

First gens often face challenges throughout their college experience, such as financial troubles and navigating the unfamiliar ropes of college.

Obstacles like those are a reason why first-generation students graduate at only a 24% rate after six years of starting college compared to 59% of continuing-generation students who graduate, according to FirstGen Forward.

Some of the toughest trials for first-generation students are figuring things out early on — even before they step foot on campus.

“I think one of the (challenges) was conceptualizing the different moving parts of financial aid and understanding that,” said Aaron Hoyle-Rivera, a criminal justice and psychology double major and former student body president.

And when they started classes their freshman year.

“It was definitely scary coming here,” said Megan Hochman, a management and marketing double major at 91�ȱ���. “Honestly, I didn’t know anything. Every single question you could think about for school, I asked.”

But the two reached out to campus resources when things got confusing. Hoyle-Rivera recalled calling and sending the financial aid office emails with his questions, and the office was “always quick to give me an answer. I never waited too long for it.”

Hochman, whose foster family resides in Dallas, asked loads of questions to the folks at the Mentoring and Persistence to Success program, which helps connect first-generation and independent students to resources.

Throughout her college experience, MAPS was a big help for Hochman, and for Coup, her advisors, Emily Sharpe and Kimberlee Yontz, were, too.

“They helped me for the most part. There were a couple of things that I, unfortunately, had to fail at to learn,” Coup said. “I was scared to come here and fail, but sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn.

“I tried things. If they didn't work, I would take a step back, evaluate, change it if I needed to. If that didn't work, I would do it again. A lot of the time, I would run by any decision that I needed to make academically with my advisors because I'm also in the (Brinson) Honors College.”

That kind of help allows students like Coup to make a great impact on campus. Coup is currently president of the dental club and women’s lacrosse club, the vice president of Alpha Lambda Delta and is an inaugural scribe of the Integrated Health Sciences Navigator program.

“After the first year, first semester even, I started to find my place,” Coup said. “I used to be really antisocial, very much an introvert. I think Western's really brought me out of my shell, especially considering the small class sizes.”

Hoyle-Rivera was obviously involved during his time at 91�ȱ���, holding the highest office in the Student Government Association, being a member of the board of trustees and engaged heavily in Greek life.

“The reason why I was able to, I guess, have a good footing for doing what I was doing is because our campus community is passionate,” Hoyle-Rivera said.

“They really make sure to reach out and provide these resources and make sure these students are set up for success, no matter if they're faculty or staff, and that's exactly what happened on an extreme level during my term.”

Resources outside of Cullowhee were also vital in Hoyle-Rivera’s and many other students’ college experience. He gave credit to things like the NC Promise, initiatives by the University of North Carolina system and a plethora of scholarships offered to students.

With those campus resources, hours of studying and many restless nights these first-gen Catamounts are ready for what lies ahead.

For Coup, she will be taking a couple more classes at a community college before taking a gap year and starting dental school at East Carolina University.

Coup, who is graduating from 91�ȱ��� debt free, aspires to be an orthodontist and own a private practice — and she wants to pay it forward to her parents.

“Seeing them want better for me, I want better for myself,” Coup said. “I want to be able to take care of them one day.”

Hochman will be sticking around in the area, as she plans to work at a resort nearby with her degree from 91�ȱ���.

While Hoyles-Rivera served an excellent term as student body president, the Shelby native isn’t diving into politics. He’s hoping to get into law. Like Coup, Hoyles-Rivera will take a gap year and study for the Law School Admission Test.

He’s hoping to attend law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — and as a first-generation college graduate, he’s hoping to set an example for those who come after him.

“My siblings, they want to go off to college, and I hope it'll be something for them to mirror whenever they get to that point and my kids, too,” Hoyles-Rivera said. “Just taking that step to be able to have a better quality of life and to have the privilege and knowledge, too.”