First Generation College Students

Being a first-generation student has had a big impact on my life in many ways. Learning from my parent's lack of higher education, I realized that attending college is invaluable in moving past the working class and seeking a higher level career. By using their failure as an example, I have become highly motivated to pursue my education further and have maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout my first year at this institution-- I plan to maintain the highest possible GPA I can.

In “Public Community Colleges: Creating Access and Opportunities for First-Generation College Students,” Everett argues that community colleges have been increasing to higher educations by enrolling members of low-income, first-generation, and many more. Everett also argues that college is limited because of costs, discrimination, and precollege preparation. Julia Everett also states some challenges faced after admission such as, students who have their mind set to transfer to a 4-year university only 46% actually complete that goal and rates are lower for those with a low-income. Helping first-generations students is beneficial to the economic.

The obstacles faced by first-generation families are often steeped in poverty (First-Generation College Students: How Co-Curricular Involvement Can Assist with Success). Although first-generation students often cross all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic status, and gender lines, the path to college-completion is fraught with

Holland, a professor of Educational Inquiry and Curriculum studies, and African and African American Studies at the University of Illinois, argues that, the message that students receive regarding college preparation varies because of the students’ race/ethnicity, socio-economic background, and generational status. She also believes that even though these students receive encouragement from their social networks, there was a shortage of individualized, concrete, and compressive college planning. Her findings suggest that college

First generation college students are students whose parents have not attained a bachelor's degree from a college. An article written by Kavitha Cardoza says, “Nearly one-third of students entering two- or four-year colleges in the United States each year are first-generation[10].” Being the first in your family to go to college is an achievement in itself but it also has a variety of different obstacles. Parents of these students mostly won’t be of any help as they did not attend college. They will have to get everything on their own and advocate for themselves a lot more as well.

Families of first-generation students do not know how to assist their children when it comes to exploring different careers, or searching for scholarships. These students can easily get discouraged as they do not have a role model figure to look after. In a study by Royster, Gross, & Hochbein (2015), it was mentioned (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie & Gonyea, 2008; Lloyd, Leicht, & Sullivan, 2008) that parents that do not have the firsthand knowledge of academic resources or college expectations do not encourage their children to challenge themselves with course that will lead them to be college bound. In addition, students may not feel motivated or supported by their families. It is important to understand that early exposures to college or career conversation do not necessary starts until their high school years.

Molly Bang’s article “Nine Ways Colleges Should Support Underrepresented Students”, advised “remind students they are not alone.” If first-generation college students have a support system or a mentor, then they are more likely to be comfortable in high school to college transition rather than they feel overwhelmed and stress. However, there is a high chance that they will need financial assistance to pay school, housing, and expenses.

Students from low-income and first generation backgrounds often struggle in different academic subjects. Subsequently, students have lower expectations for themselves when it comes to academic achievement. The majority of first generation students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Seeing that, families work countless hours in factories and other places where they are underpaid because of the lack of educational opportunity they experienced themselves. According to Blackwell and Pinder (2014) in the United States higher education is becoming the outlet to different avenues of opportunity whether it is through social mobility or economic progress. While screening out possible topics of interest for a research proposal, one of the challenges I encountered in my field experience was the lack of college access education and funding for the families in the urban high schools. The first generation student family typically is unaware of the college process because the student’s parents have not attended an institution of higher education. Therefore, the students cannot count on their knowledge of the process. Eventually, when students reach the financial aid process it becomes difficult because parents usually cannot afford full tuition expenses and at the same time do not understand the process. In these situations, schools with a college going culture can prepare staff to provide extra support to students by developing professional training in college access, mentorship

An obstacle that frequently occurs in a first generation college student’s journey is the lack of resources and knowledge towards the college process. Being the first one in the family to go to college also means being the first one to fill out necessary applications, paperwork, schedules, and other things that come with college; therefore, the first generation lacks the proper guidance from their parents or other

There are many challenges that first generation students face in pursuit of a college degree:

My time spent at Cogswell Polytechnical College has been one of a great experience thus, making me more appreciative of the financial hardships my family continues to endure in order for me to attend such a prestigious university. There is no one in my family to have made it this far academically as I am living the life of a first generation college student. Now, being the only person out of my other nine siblings to identify as a college student raises a lot of concern from the adults of the family as well as intrapersonal stress. The annual income my family lives off of could be considered at poverty level, therefore financials are allocated properly by priority with my education not being one of them. Just as society views eighteen to be the threshold of adulthood, so do my parents. Consequently, I am attending college strictly on my own and this is what makes me suitable candidate for the Dragon scholarship. Simply put, anything to financially assist in my schooling would definitely relieve the stress of wondering if Cogswell will just one day become too expensive for me to attend.

Being a first generation college student is a heavy load to carry due to the constant reminder of having to be a good role model for my siblings. Children of immigrants are often highly expected to excel in their academics and to be involved in extracurricular activities. His/her parent immigrated to the “Land of The Free” in order to receive a better life and to give their children a place to call home. They work from one to two jobs a week just so that we can dig through the pantry, and raid the refrigerator. We sometimes take our parents for granted unknowingly, and constantly fill our heads with a question that we all seem to ask. “How do I please my parents?”, “What do I have to do to make them happy?”. As students we should all be voicing “College!”. Yes, maybe our folks’s dreams have faded away, however that should be our motivation to aim higher; to achieve our American Dream. Throughout our years of education, our very own relatives and teachers have emphasized on the importance of receiving a higher education. I have come to realize that I should not be asking myself “How do I please my parents?”. Instead, “How do I please myself?”, “What will my lifetime goals be?”, “Will it leave my parents hard work in vain?”. Obtaining a higher education will not impact their lives, but will affect yours drastically. My American Dream has always been to become an immigration lawyer that deals with international relations or to become a professor teaching my true passion for

Many parents, from the day their child can walk or is even born, dread the day their child goes to college. This view on college is not only because “their little bird is leaving the nest”, but because of the unfavorable college prices. College is becoming more essential, yet more difficult to afford. A plethora of graduating high school students hope to pursue in the American Dream, graduating from college. Because of the rising tuition prices, however, students and parents are now more concerned about how much damage they will endure financially, more so than the quality of education their child would be receiving. College is now nothing more than a price tag and a hole in parents’ wallets. Knowing this, students often

The intended audience for this project consists of my instructor, Brian Royce, and other members of this English 111 online course. The levels of knowledge will vary when it comes to this article’s topic. Some people may have knowledge on this subject due to their upbringing and some may have never thought about it before. This topic has great relevance today as higher education is more readily available. Still many low-income parents don’t take their children’s education seriously. I believe many educators and parents can relate to this topic as a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families (Layton, 2014, para. 1). This article not only has to do with the author’s personal experiences as a student, but also his study of first-generation college students. I found this article to be particularly important to me because I myself am a low-income parent of four boys and certainly hope that the author’s thoughts, coupled with my own, may spur change in many educators’ teaching styles. The medium I am using is a formal academic manuscript.

Being the first one to go to college in my whole generation carries lots of pride, and pressure. I am all on my own; from preparing my grade, taking tests to filling out applications, FAFSA; it's all me. Aside from my supportive counsellors, the Internet has been my main resources on this journey. I wish if there were more guidance, as early as freshman year, for first year college applicants like me. No matter how stressful it is, I know for a fact that my parents' smiles when they receive my acceptances are priceless.