At the end of her final year at Webster University in St. Louis, Warrenton alumna Emily Brooks was given a chance to look back at how momentous her education has been for her family, and the example she has set for students who come after her.

Brooks and her brother, Dylan, are the first generation of their family to attend a university and seek bachelor’s degrees. Just before graduating this spring, Brooks was awarded the “I’m the First” Ted Hoef Award for Leadership and Service, an honor that Webster grants to first-generation students who serve as role models for others who are the first in their family to attend college.

Brooks said the award stemmed from her work as an assistant community director with Webster’s housing department, and as a residential assistant for two years before that, helping new students integrate into the completely unfamiliar life at college. Brooks said she took on the work after overcoming her own difficulties as a first-generation college freshman.

“I got to college and realized that a lot of people had a better idea of what they were doing than I did,” Brooks recalled. “They’d be like, ‘Oh, this is normal, my parents told me about this.’ I didn’t realize I had no basis to go off of.”

For everything from signing up for classes to understanding residential life, Brooks said it was all new information that she and her family had to figure out together. When she returned for her sophomore year and could take a campus job, Brooks asked to be a residential assistant (RA) working specifically with freshmen. That way, she could be the source of knowledge they might not have.

“I know what it feels like to go in and not know what’s going on,” she commented. “I wanted to be placed with freshmen because I think freshmen have a lot of different needs that people don’t talk about.”

Brooks is a 2017 graduate of Warrenton High School. She graduated from Webster this May with a double major in management (emphasizing human resources) and English. She said her parents and grandparents were hugely supportive of her seeking college education.

“College just felt right in my path of life,” she commented.

Eric and Kim Brooks, Emily’s parents, said they had always hoped they would be blessed to send their kids to college, and pushed them to do well in school.

“I knew that Emily would be the first one to go to college. When she was able to go and make the dream happen, I was over the moon,” Eric said. “The one thing I’ve always told them is a college education is the one thing that will pay you back your entire life. It will always open a door for you, and then it’s your job to walk through that door.”

As Emily and her brother were growing up, they were encouraged to be involved in many different groups and activities, said Kim Brooks. She thinks that helped them to be comfortable seeking out involvement and responsibility in their adult lives. Kim said she was so excited to see her daughter recognized for more than just her grades.

“Knowing that she’s making a difference in the world, that’s what’s important to me,” Kim said. “Both of our kids are making a difference.”