GREENFIELD — Friday, Nov. 15, marked the last day of Greenfield Community College’s fourth celebration of “First Generation Week,” held in recognition of the 54% of GCC students who are the first in their families to attend college.

In the school’s main entrance, Coordinator of Student Success Holly Kosinski, whose mother graduated college during her freshman year, spoke to first-generation college students who stopped by, offering “first-gen” pins and copies of Alejandra Campoverdi’s memoir “First Gen.”

“When I was in college, nobody talked about first-generation college students as a thing, and so it was very isolating to feel like I was the only one who didn’t know what was going on or what I was supposed to do,” Kosinski said. “This is a way to draw attention to ... this group that is historically challenged in completing college, but also [to the fact] that they’re not alone. There are a lot of staff and faculty who were first-generation students. Many of them have advanced degrees now.”

Each year, the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals celebrates first-generation college students on Nov. 8, which marks the anniversary of the signing of the 1965 Higher Education Act.

With more than half of GCC’s student population being first generation, Kosinski said the weeklong celebration aims not only to recognize the importance of bridging generational divides in higher education, but encouraging first-generation college students to view their backgrounds as attributes, rather than weaknesses.

English major Chelsea Rossier said she enrolled in college in her 30s. As the daughter of a fisherman and a commercial house cleaner, Rossier said she was the first in her family to attend college.

“I have my applications in to Smith and Mount Holyoke for spring transfer,” Rossier said. “This is my third semester here, and I’ve loved it so much. We’ll see what happens.”

Others, such as first-generation GCC student and Franklin County Technical School graduate Kylee Wrisley, said the process of applying for financial aid was particularly difficult for her, given the fact that neither of her parents had experience with the process.

“It’s definitely something very new. I’m learning as I’m going because no one before me has done it,” Wrisley said. “It’s a learning curve for all of us, but it’s very exciting and something very new.”

First-generation college student Wendy Dellert, 55, decided to enroll at GCC last spring after learning about the MassReconnect program, which makes community college free for Massachusetts adults ages 25 and older who don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

With plans to graduate this winter and transfer to a four-year college, Dellert said she is grateful for the resources available to her at GCC.

“As far as being first-generation here at GCC, I think there’s a lot of support,” Dellert said, adding that resources such as free tutoring and math support have been helpful. “I think for first-generation students, they don’t have the resources at home, they don’t have the support that other students get. … [GCC’s resources] made up for some of the things that I missed out on, not having parents that had gotten a college degree.”

Dellert recommends that potential first-generation college students not view their backgrounds as barriers. She said she is grateful for her time at GCC and she feels the school has helped her grow more confident in herself.

“There’s so many resources out there that I think it shouldn’t be something where if you’re first-generation, you feel like you’re not going to do as well as somebody who’s got college-educated parents,” Dellert said. “[GCC] has made me feel more confident in myself. … I feel like I’ve been really successful in my classes and I think that that gave me a level of confidence that I might not have had before.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Greenfield Community College student Ada Denenfeld Kelly contributed to this report.