My Struggle For Independence Growing Up Of A First Generation Home

As a senior at Red Cloud High School, I’m a member of National Honor Society, captain of the cheer squad, lifeguard, swimming instructor, and part-time employee at the local grocery store. I’ve come to learn from a young age that money doesn’t grow on trees. When growing up, it was just my mother and I. While living on her single parent income, I learned money doesn’t grow on trees. My mother worked a minimum wage job, facing financial struggles at times. Her willpower drove her to get the job she has today. My mother married, and I have a little brother now. As his big sister, I always wanted to be someone he could look up to. At the age of fifteen I became a lifeguard at the community pool. The next year I took classes to be a certified Water Safety Instructor, so I could teach swimming lessons to local children. That same year I applied at the local grocery store, to have a job during the school year.

I am the product of divorced parents, who struggled with substance abuse, but that does not define me. My childhood consisted of poverty-stricken environments; however, I refused to let that dictate the outcome of my life. At the age of ten, I had to assume the role of a fatherly figure to my three siblings, so I missed out on the conventional childhood most would have had. I grew up in east Bakersfield where substance abuse, gangs and criminal acts of violence were a pervasive occurrence, and I resiliently avoided the peer pressures to conform to their way of life. From the ages of 11 to 15, I would work for my grandfather at the local swap meet on the weekends so that I could help my mother make ends meet. I received my worker 's permit at the age of 15, which elevated my ability to help my mother financially as now I earned a set wage. I worked the maximum hours allowed as a minor while balancing my academics and extracurricular school activities at school. Although faced with much adversity early on in life, I managed to be a scholar triathlete in high school and was accepted to California State University, Bakersfield after graduating from Foothill High. I was determined and excited to be the first college graduate in my family, as I understood the economic importance of this achievement. Sadly, after my freshman year of attending the university, I had to put my educational endeavors on hold to assist my mother and siblings further financially.

My mother worked four jobs at once to make financial ends meet, while always stressing the importance of education and financial independence to my brother and myself. My grandmother only achieved a second grade education due to the financial constraints on her family at a young age, but still in the end managed to make certain that of her children and grandchildren had what was needed to flourish and become successful, educated members of the community. The tenacity and history of these two women I still carry with me today. Their struggles have inspired to me to only want more from life, but also serve as a positive role model for the younger members of my community. I observed from other family members how an education can open a multitude of doors and opportunities. I want to make the biggest and most significant on my community and on my family as possible, and the only foreseeable path is to achieve a college education to gain the necessary skills, knowledge and connections needed to flourish and implement positive

Throughout my high school career, I had an obligation to help this family business to support my family financially. On weekends and majority of the weekdays, I spend my time aiding my parents while juggling numerous amounts of school work. Senior year proved to be the hardest, with five advancement placement classes that I take and while still helping out at the restaurant. Such environment that I was raised in, has shaped me to become a disciplined and responsible individual.

Being a first generation student requires more will power than I ever thought I owned. In middle school I was denied by my parents the chance to shadow a pharmacist because they saw this as an unattainable dream. It wasn’t until I began working with disabled children and tried to pursue a nursing degree, that I found the courage and determination to pursue all of my dreams in spite of my upbringing.

When I was 13 years-old, my parents would always get in big arguments. When they argued I didn’t even know what they were arguing about. Until one night my mom decided they wanted a divorce. That night all I could remember was yelling, crying, and depression. I personally have no Idea why my parents decided to get a divorce, I just hope it was for the right reasons. When this was happening I kept blaming it on myself. I thought it was my fault and I had to fix it, but it wasn’t my fault and there was no way I could fix it. The best thing I learned from this situation was to keep my head up and keep positive, those things helped me jump over the obstacle of divorce. This situation made me be more kind to people, because most of the time in life

We are a low - income family as my mom is the only one providing for us. I will be a first generation college student within my immediate family, and as much as my parents would want to aid me in the process they cannot. There are so many opportunities that my parents have created for me, and I will use all of the resources provided to fulfill my dreams. There are many reasons for furthering my education, but the main reason that I am fixated on is my desire to enrich my life with knowledge. Another reason that contributes to furthering my educational journey is to gain the ability to serve people and aid in administering justice.

When I was 5 my life changed completely. My sister and I were abandoned by our mother and father. I was then raised by my aunt and uncle along with my grandparents. I was taken in and loved as if I was their own. I want to show them and myself that no matter what happens in life that I can succeed and accomplish anything I set my mind to. Therefore, I am pursuing an Associates degree and the first generation in my family to go to college first generation in my family to go to college.

I landed my first job at the age of 15, the same year I passed the Accuplacer Placement test and enrolled at Edmonds Community College as a full-time Running Start student. I am the youngest of five children and although my parents needed the financial help, getting a job and education at such a young age was ultimately my choice. Aside from growing up with four older brothers, my parents put me into the school system one year early. As the youngest at school and home, I grew an insatiable need to prove myself. I chose to work hard early in life because I wasn’t going to let my circumstance define me.

I didn't have enough for books, or for food, or for the rest of it. So I was mentally prepared to work. As a student at Oakwood, I worked for the school as a security officer on campus, $3.25 an hour. And I did about 38-40 hours per week, it still wasn't enough to take care of all the financial obligations. So I had a job off-campus where I worked another 40 hours per week. And I was able to take care of myself. And in 1990-- when I got a scholarship to UAH-- even though I had a scholarship, I still had to work. I worked 60 hours per week. And there were times when you could only have one meal per day. But this was just a road to the destination that I wanted to go to, and that was to finish college. You follow what I'm saying? Even though it was financially challenging, you couldn't go and buy a new car. You had to fix up your whole car. And many times in the winter, when the car wouldn't start, you had to walk to school. It was very challenging. But the whole idea was the goal, the destination, was to finish college. And being able to do this, now I can tell my 13-year-old daughter, I will not accept an excuse for you. Because it can be done. And if you work hard, you will get to where you want to go”. This story tell you that your current situation can’t determines who or where you will be. This documentary show me that the issue that is a

Growing up in a family of eight and seeing my parents struggles to provide for us had always made me wanted to become independent and

As a young child, I learned that education would be beneficial to not only myself but also all humankind. Growing up in a Northeast Florida housing project my father and mother did the best they could to raise nine children. My father worked seven days a week in the service industry as a waiter and bartender while my mother worked as a domestic employee in the homes of more affluent people in the south. My father had an eleventh grade education and my mother had not passed the tenth grade before she bore her first child. Neither parent completed high school but they had dreams of their children far exceeding their educational accomplishments. I was child eight of the nine and I knew early on that I did not want to live

I grew up in a single-parent, low-income home outside of Santa Rosa, California. The idea of college wasn’t introduced to me until long after I had already become just another statistic. I dropped out of high school when I was 17, in the midst of a teenage rebellion, thinking I already knew everything and didn’t need anyone’s help. I left home, got a job at a fast food restaurant, and stayed with friends off and on until I realized that maybe I didn’t know everything quite yet. After a severe reality check, I found a sense of responsibility that encouraged me to get my G.E.D and find a great job. I was very determined to take everything I learned as a child and use it as a what-not-to-do guide. By the time I was 19, I bought my first house and quickly realized I could either set limitations with excuses or achieve goals with endurance. The

I had dreams and the only way I knew how to live out my dreams was through education. Although I fell into temptation as an adolescent, I never stopped attending school. During the end of my freshman year I found out I was having a baby girl. I knew I had to succeed more than ever, just to prove to her there is a way out of poverty. I had very little to offer her, so I was a single mother on welfare. I had many sleepless nights and moments that I just wanted to give up, but I pulled through and was able to attend East