5/29/ · As a first-generation student, a college degree meant stability. It meant financial freedom with a modest salary and a (k). It meant not having anxiety at every checkout after too many times of walking away from our cart of groceries because Mom’s card was declined. A college degree means no longer living in a state of crisis. Valentina Korkes The First Generation College Student I am a female college student in her late 20s who comes from a minority background. Considering my socio-economic background, it has always been hard for people from my race to access and actually graduate from college (Engle, ). Fortunately, I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to further my education beyond the secondary level, a feat Being the first in your family to attend college means a lot. While the weight of our parents’ hard work may feel like a burden, being a first-generation college student gives us an edge over our peers. We know first-hand that not everyone is able to attend college, which gives us incentive to work extra hard
On Being First in Your Family
But regardless of what I looked like on the surface, I had the same struggles as any other first-generation college student. From first generation college student essay example to lack of emotional and financial support from family to lack of academic infrastructure and lack of actionable activity from my parents, pursuing college was made extremely difficult.
However, I never let those roadblocks deter me from my concrete goal of graduating from college with a degree in journalism. From the beginning, my parents were adamant that both my younger brother and I go to college. They were both raised in underprivileged homes and subsequently dropped out of high school.
To their credit, they worked extremely hard and provided my younger brother and I great resources and opportunities. When I was 13, my dad asked me what I wanted to be. I said I wanted to be a journalist or a news anchor — my goal since I was 5 years old, first generation college student essay example.
Rather than supporting me, he told me that was a waste of time and I should be a business major and minor in psychology. Unfortunately, this problem tends to only get worse as college approaches. Once I entered high school, it became extremely difficult for me to connect with them on an academic level.
If I was doing poorly in a class, they would critique me. However, since they were high school dropouts, I felt anything they said to me was immediately irrelevant. But I knew I wanted to be different from them. I wanted to achieve something greater and become greater. I knew there was something out there bigger than myself to experience and be a part of. And that something big happened for me my senior year when I committed to play water polo for Penn State University, Behrend.
Once that was established, I decided to decommit and go to community college to save money. Another large roadblock for first-generation college students is paying for it. And with the rising costs of college, it is becoming more difficult to make that jump. However, when it came to taking the next step to a four- year school, I was on my own. Combined, my parents together were making a great income, but decided that a vacation home, jet skis, and things were more important than saving for college or helping us pay for our four-year degree, first generation college student essay example.
My takeaway from this? My parents did help me obtain student loans to attend Arizona State University, with the agreement that they would be taken off as cosigners once I graduated. Now that I am graduated and four years removed from ASU, I am still, unfortunately, buried in student debt, and I will be for some time. However, the debt that I am paying off is a small debt to pay for the example and standard I set for my younger brother. I like to think I did my best to set an example for my younger brother.
When I began attending ASU, I made it a point for him to come visit me. Whether by walking around campus, hanging out in the dorms with my friends, going to fraternity events, football games, or anything else around campus, I wanted to expose my brother to what college is really like. My end goal for him was not to go to ASU, but to provide the perspective of what college is really like.
He ended up visiting three first generation college student essay example times and I thoroughly enjoyed hosting him. I guess my influence worked because now he is close to graduating from San Diego State University.
In fact, they get a bulk of the credit. They were extremely supportive to students by enforcing the idea of college, and giving students resources to ensure they could go to college. These resources included college fairs, first generation college student essay example, visits to our classrooms from college counselors, well-equipped college and careers center, as well as prep courses for scholarships and financial aid, first generation college student essay example.
I know not every school has these resources, and I am incredibly thankful first generation college student essay example school did. I also first generation college student essay example a great social support network. My closest friends were on their way to large universities and so was a significant amount of my graduating class. Along with this, I had a goal of playing water polo at the collegiate level, and that was incredibly motivating to continue working hard towards my goal.
Remember, though, that no great accomplishments are ever completed alone. If you are a first-generation college student, you are already an underdog. Research campuses, majors, social scenes, and costs. Learn what you need to do to get to college and how you can do it. Becoming extremely knowledgeable in the subject gives you have a far greater chance of getting there and having a successful college experience. CONNECT WITH OTHER PARENTS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT.
HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE. JOIN ONE OR ALL OF OUR FACEBOOK GROUPS:. PAYING FOR COLLEGE Home Apply Community College. Sep 14, My Pre-College Experience From the beginning, my parents were adamant that both my younger brother and I go to college. Paying for College Another large roadblock for first-generation college students is paying for it. Setting an Example for College I like to think I did my best to set an example for my younger brother. Brett Holzhauer is graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University.
He enjoy writing about personal finance, travel, and higher education. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling with his wife, eating questionable Mexican food, first generation college student essay example, and watching college football. View all posts. TAGS personal experiences. OLDER POST Paying Tuition With a Credit Card — Is it Possible?
FLI at Stanford: The Voices of First-gen and Low-income Students
, time: 5:20Psychology: Sample Essay on First Generation College Students
The First Generation College Student I am a female college student in her late 20s who comes from a minority background. Considering my socio-economic background, it has always been hard for people from my race to access and actually graduate from college (Engle, ) The First Generation College Student I am a female college student in her late 20s who comes from a minority background. Considering my socio-economic background, it has always been hard for people from my race to access and actually graduate from college (Engle, ). Fortunately, I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to further my education beyond the secondary level, a feat Free Essay: Involvement is a key component to student persistence on a college campus (Tinto, , , ; Astin ). First-generation students are
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