I Am A Father Who Migrated From Sierra Leone

Education is very important to my parents and it is not just a means of obtaining a good job in the future, but it serves as a way to get respect and social standing in a world that is so heavily focused on societal and class statuses. Being the first generation to have gone onto higher education, the pressures, put on by my family, can sometimes be overwhelming. In fact, at times I think my parents are more excited and ready for me to graduate than I am, which can be quite comical.

I was raised in a environment of Generations after Generations of parents grandparents and family members that had a disadvantage of attending College because lack of finical funds and knowledge of the importance of college. My fathers parents lived the American dream by coming to america from Mexico to have a surpassing life. By hard work and little education they became property owners and raised three kids. My mothers parents had children right out of high school and were considerd poor but with hard and dedication

Growing up in a less privileged household has not only offered financial and academic challenges, but has also helped me to realize the value and power of achieving a higher education.

Neither of my parents attended college nor did they finish high school. My family is a one-person income family. I had to get a job to help pay for my expenses because my parents cannot afford to pay for everything. I use the money I earn to pay for my gas, my phone bill, and my other living expenses. Even when my parents can not afford to pay for something my younger siblings want, I pay for it. My parents will not even be able to help pay for my college. The reason for them not being able to pay for my college is because they have two children going to college this year.

Students from all over the United States are told all through their life that they need to attend college if they ever want to be successful, however, this is far from the truth. Often schools are culprits for driving students to attend money driven colleges, in other cases it is family. While schools all too often make the push on students to continue their schooling, parents can cause the same situation, as they may not have a degree and be working a low-paying factory job. Now kids already don’t want to be like their parents when they get older, so seeing them suffer in poverty or barely above the poverty line can cause some dissatisfaction, further seeking a degree to live a life that they never got. What many

From the time I was able to realize what College was, all I ever heard from my Mother was about how or why I should go to college. and to be honest, after hearing all that, it just made me not want to go to college, because I didn't feel like I was smart enough, I felt like I know I was going to let my Mother down after all the things that she does for our family, from raising seven children on her own to having to work day or night just so that we can have the opportunities that she never had. As I grew older college took on a greater meaning to me. Realized that by not going to college I was destroying everything that

One of my biggest accomplishments was to be able to attend college. As a first generation low income student who immigrated to the United States, I have struggled to maintain my education as a free resource for my future. Never would I have thought that my life would change so drastically for the better of me and my family. Without my loving, supportive and caring parents, I do not think that I would be where I am right now. As an only child, my parents have always been there for me. They have sacrificed so much to give me a better education and that means a lot for me, therefore I want to give back to them more than they gave me. I have seen my dad struggled in his job and I have experienced the hardships of working in his job myself. Working

I was born in South Africa, my parents made the decision when I was very young to leave everything behind and move our family to America. My mother did this for one reason, to make sure my brothers and I would have unlimited opportunities to succeed and get an education. Early on in my childhood my parents decided to get a divorce, this was very hard on me as a child because it left me without a father figure. My mom tried the best she could to be a role model for me but it just wasn’t the same. From a young age I had to learn to be independent to stand on my own two feet and work hard at everything I did so I could accomplish my goals. One of those goals that my brothers and I shared was to be the first generation in my family to attend college,

My immediate family has been constantly isolated by my father’s extended family. My mother’s family currently lives in Mexico, so I don't hear much from them either. My father’s family has never had faith in my siblings and me graduating high school and pursuing higher education. They have constantly criticized my siblings and me saying that we would be high school dropouts. I know I should not let this get to me, but sometimes it becomes difficult knowing that my own blood does not believe in my potential. However, I have grown indifferent to their cynicism and know that I can achieve anything I set my heart and mind to. I think of this everyday, and I push myself into setting and completing my goals. This has helped me academically because I have turned this challenge into self-motivation. This has helped me see that you do not have to be the way someone defines you. I know that I am completely capable of proving my family wrong and I will continue to fight for what I

Every high school senior knows the stress of getting into their dream school, the stress of not wasting the years of knowledge they have obtained, and the anxiety of awaiting a college response. That feeling is amplified when someone comes from a tough environment. My mother didn’t graduate high school, leaving at an early age to help support her family as the eldest sibling, and she came to the United States when she was 18, with little opportunities for her own life. She taught my siblings and I that living in the U.S., we could pursue our passions but it would be difficult because of our ethnic and socio-economic background. For me, it’s unbelievable how I transitioned from taking care of my siblings to working long hours and studying until

Have you ever wonder what do you want to be when you grow up? Well, not me I've never thought of that because I have no idea what do I want to be. I don't even know what's my interests are. But one thing is for sure- I want to graduate college because I want all of the things that my parents have to endure,sacrifice they made and perseverance in order us to have a good life would be all worth it. Life was tough for my parents especially my mom because she have to wake up early in the morning just to cook us food and go to work just for us to buy the things we needed that sometimes is not enough for us. Knowing that my parents are undergraduate meaning that they get to college but unable to finish it. So they can't find a stable job with a

The family of my mother and my father both came from poverty. They did not have all the resources I have today. That is why they motivate me to take advantage of these opportunities and accomplish the unimaginable. Without my family, I feel empty inside and that is when I begin to fall down. I understand that I should not depend on them for motivation but they are just what keeps my engine running. The background of my family and of my childhood has created this ambition inside of me. It is not a bad type of ambition; on the other hand, it is an ambition to seek better academic excellence and great things in life. I want to prove myself by taking the most demanding classes that put my knowledge to the test and makes me think more and work harder. In the future, I want to be a better man that is strong in his faith and in his capabilities. The person that does not give up and works even harder just to accomplish his goals. I just want my parents to have the opportunity to observe me with pride and joy for graduating college and having the career and life of my

About halfway through my junior year, I told my parents I wanted to go to college. I craved more knowledge than I had and the thought of meeting new people and making connections was irresistible. To be honest, I cried when I told my parents. I expected them to be unsupportive and degrading, but they were not. Of course they were supportive and all for me going for higher education. From there I took the

My parents looked disappointed, their backs bearing the weight of my own, as I asked for an outfit to wear for my 13th birthday. Their brown eyes watered with sadness and discontent as they looked at each other in silence. Growing up with parents who only had high school diplomas, low paying jobs, and five children running around the house, I encountered countless obstacles that threatened to set me back in life—whether it was the lack of support from family members or the absence of beneficial programs aimed towards college readiness. Each obstacle and failure that I encountered led me to be the person that I am today, the person who hides the bruises and scars of my childhood with an enormous smile that glows as if light could counteract darkness. As Colin Powell said, “I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.” These are the things that are unnoticed about me, my childhood struggles. My insecurities, struggles with low self-esteem, and failed attempts in my life must be swallowed and sealed so that I have the opportunity to purse my life dream: being one of the first in my family to say, “I’m attending college.”

To begin, in the third grade my parents got a divorce and everything I knew was torn into two. I understand this divorce was a decade ago, but I never understood the rippling effect of it. We kids had to commute back and forth between two parents who were barely keeping their heads above water financially. I was a little person who had to deal with multiple occasions in a house with no heat, no power, and no source of food. Times were tough, but my internal drive to become something, trumped everything else. As a result of my parents’ finances, college funds were never a possibility. This impossibility hit home for me, which allowed a little third grader to fight tooth and nail for a simple honor roll or distinguish honor roll in hopes of becoming something one day. As the years went on I kept this status because I wanted to make myself proud, but most of all, I wanted to make my mother proud. For my mom, colleges was never an option, she had too many setbacks to even make it through high