First Generation College Students : Not Get Burned Out

During my high school career I was able to make lots of friendships, but had few close friendships. I was unable to have a large amount of girlfriends, because I did not feel a good connection with them. Instead, I hung out with a group of guys and had two girlfriends who had similar life stories. When I was sixteen I started working and that was something I enjoyed doing to make money. Once high school was over I felt like I had so much to look forward to. When college came around I didn’t see the same people every day and had to make new friends here at Anderson. This was challenging for me, because the dorms are full of females which was something that I have not been used to.

First generation college students are those who are seeking to be the first in their family to earn a degree, according to UCLA. First- generation students can come from low, middle, or high income families without a history of going to college. Families of first generation students can either be supportive of the students plan for a high education or make them feel family pressure to enter the workforce right after high school like they did. First generation students often do not know their options regarding higher education and have fears about going to college and it’s cost. Currently, 42% of UC undergraduates are first generation.

I was a very shy kid. Making friends wasn’t my cup of tea when I was younger. Based on this you can imagine how nervous I was when we moved. Joseph Campbell wrote in The Hero With a Thousand Faces, “It is only when a man tames his own demons that he becomes the king of himself if not of the world.” I was preparing to start school again in August when I decided it would be smart to begin associating with kids my age in the area; so, I began spending time with my cousin Lief. After spending some time with Lief, he introduced me to some of his friends and taught me to how to appreciate

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

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

In Frank Bruni’s article “The Real Campus Scourge,” the main argument that many college freshmen are extremely lonely at the start of their college careers is supported by numerous testimonials and statistics, which add to the credibility of the argument and ultimately make the argument very believable.

Throughout my teenage years, I was the embodiment of the average introvert. The pressure to succeed and become a first generation college student in my family was overwhelming, and the constant battle of not being good enough defeated me. My parents only spoke Spanish, and were unable to help me with my school assignments. As I struggled with my academics silently, my self-consciousness and insecurities grew. The fear of speaking out in public was a lingering shadow that developed more, as I grew older. Being that English was my second language, I had always felt inferior to those who spoke English as their primary language.

Coming from a smaller town where a lot of families do not have the money to send themselves or even their children to college was tough, I was always worried about what was going to happen after high school was over. Applying for financial aid and signing up for classes without having a family member who has done it before is very difficult, the student don’t know what classes to take or how much money to take out for loans, as a first generation college student myself it has been hard to do all the paperwork for college. A first generation college student can be very stressed like all college students but for first generation students they have no one that has gone through the same thing and that could help them get through it. Financial issues are going to be stressful for every college student, but for first generation students it can get extremely difficult seen as they do not know that much about applying for financial aid. Some students can get scholarships that help to pay for their college, though they do not know how to apply for those scholarships sometimes.Students who are first generation do not get the advice of their parents on college, just like how they do not know how to sign up for financial aid and other resources that are useful.

Are you aware that at least forty percent of the United States is made up of first-generation students? (Earl, 1987.) Being given the label “first-generation,” by definition, means that a student is the first in his or her family to attend and finish college with a college degree. In Hicks 2006 study, he compared the educational barriers of first-generation students to those non-first-generation students. As a result, Hicks found out the first-generation students had different expectations of college, poor academic abilities, lack of social skills, low self-esteem, and more financial restrictions (Hicks, 2003; Thayer, 2000). There are many challenges that first-generation students face in pursuit of a college degree: academic challenges,

A first-generation college student is the first person in a family to attend college or any type of secondary education. This title “first-generation college student” has created a stigma for so many students making their time in college more difficult than someone who has come from a family of college graduates. First-generation college students often find themselves lost and without the edge of students who come from parents and/or siblings who went to college.

Provide a clear personal statement that describes how you have succeeded as a first generation college student or how you have succeeded in the face of disability. WC = 500 As a first generation college student, I have succeeded by navigating through the California State University system from start to finish. The conversation of college began during my junior year of high school when college readiness organizations would present on the steps of enrollment and how affordable college could be due to scholarships. My parents admitted being of no logistical value towards understanding the FAFSA, Intent to Enroll forms, Residential Life, etc., but they were supportive and reassuring as I learned how what it meant to be a Spartan.

Being a first generation college student has had its fair share of challenges. Both my mother and father, received their high school diplomas, but that was the extent of their educational careers. On top of that not a single grandparent on either my mother or my father’s side of the family even had the opportunity to attend high school. Though there are an endless array of resources readily available for all students, not having parents to help guide me through my collegiate academic process presented itself as daunting, as I was partially unsure of the road ahead. Being a first generation college student has been a burden, but it has also been, in a way, a blessing. I have had to face academic and financial obstacles other students have not,

It’s vital as a student to be successful in college, therefore starting new in a whole different social environment can take time to adjust. Students need to be accessible and be committed to their studies so that they can improve in their courses.For instance, seeking out the opportunity to meet others who want to be successful in school is a beneficial way to be more connected to going to college. Having a growth mindset can also open other ways to gain knowledge and advice from other students. Not only getting help from others is helpful to your success but putting the advice into the hard work that comes along. By reading ‘Opening Skinner’s Box’ by Lauren Slater, it reasons how many psychological

amounts of information about why first generation students decide they will not attend higher education, however this researcher believes educational research should focus on what interventions, motivations, and strategies specifically encourage and motivate FGCS to attend college. Knowing this will allow educators to support and encourage more FGCS to attend college.

The idea of college is overwhelming, considering that incoming students have to decide where they will live, what they will study, how many hours to take, and especially how they are going to pay for it. Randall S. Hansen, a nationally recognized Entrepreneur, is helping incoming college students everywhere deal with all of those critical ideas about college with his article called “Your First Year of College: 25 Strategies and Tips to Help You Survive and Thrive Your Freshman Year and Beyond” which explains what students should consider doing in their first year of college to make it through. In this article, he emphasizes how much students should think about what they do in their first year when he