Our Story

Hi! My name is Olivia Cassinelli, and I am a rising junior at the Lovett School. I have an older brother, Julian, who will be a freshman in college in the fall. Watching Julian go through the complicated and time-consuming process of tours, applications, and especially essays, it hit me how difficult it would be to navigate without knowledgeable guidance, which Julian was lucky enough to have. My father, a first-generation immigrant, recently shared that he did not have any such assistance when he applied to college. His parents were not strong English speakers and had little to no understanding of the college admission process or the importance of submitting a strong application.

The past few summers, I have volunteered at City of Refuge, a shelter for women and children in crisis. I work at the summer camp, so I have created relationships with many of the kids. I know that many of them will have almost no help when it comes to college applications, and many of them won’t apply at all. My wish is to make it free and accessible for these students to get the help they need to further their educations.

Learning about my dad’s experience and working at the City of Refuge made me realize how difficult it must be for first-generation kids or immigrants to maneuver through the competitive application process that exists today. So, I decided that I wanted to do something to help. I created First Gen Georgia, whose goal is simple: to help first-generation students with the college application process. To that end, I hope to connect motivated first-generation students with parents and recent college graduates who have gone through the application process and are willing to serve as a mentor to the students.