Personal Narrative-First Generation Student?

When my mother immigrated to America from Mexico, she had only her family and hope. Hope for a better life; in the US, she was offered the world, and she snatched it within seconds. Unbeknownst to her, their promises were as empty as her pockets. They stole from her, they ruined her, and they tried to build a wall not only between her country and theirs but between her and her family.

During my time at Union County College I have been faced with a lot of difficulties. I’ve struggled along the way but one thing I do believe is that I have the power to do better. My GPA has been affected by my personal mistakes. In my past semesters I have let my job take over my life rather than let school be most important. I have also let my personal family problems affect my work ethic. But through my fall 2014, it was most difficult because of March 2014 I lost my father through an unexpected heart attack. Throughout my fall semester I did struggle and cope with my father not being here anymore. I believed that I wasn’t focused enough because I used fall semester as a time to occupy myself rather that time out to deal with my father’s

Alfreda was a first generation college student. She had a difficult academic experience being one of only four African American students majoring in animal science. She used her social life to help her cope with the experience. Alfreda mentioned Zinck 's night which is a campus tradition named after a bar keeper in Ithaca that owned a bar that was a haven for college students. Alfreda found no interest in this event, however, she did participate in Slope day because it was an opportunity for her and her friends to celebrate the last day of school. Instead of participating in the university-wide homecoming, she mentions a separate homecoming sponsored by a Black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha and the Festival of Black Gospel. She states:

Coming into the University I didn’t know what to expect, especially with taking 16 hours, and Comp being one of them. Being a first generation college student, has been rough especially since my older sister exceeded my parents expectations. I believe I am capable of succeeding in anything I set my mind to. I have always struggled with English/Writing since English is my second language. Many people tend to get surprised when I tell them I learned English at the age of 4, since they believed English would be my first language since I was born in the United States. Long story short, English is my second language because I was raised by my grandparents, since my parents always dedicated their time to work to provide us with a better future.

Growing up as a first-generation college-bound Hispanic woman has proven to be a difficult journey. Both of my parents left their home countries at a young age and came to this country without any ideas or real opportunities on where to begin. At a young age, I have been taught that having a higher education is the key to having a successful and plentiful life. However, the journey towards achieving my dream of receiving a higher education has been filled with moments where I have challenged the stereotypes about getting pregnant and dropping out of high school, facing my grandma’s unexpected illness that affected me both academically and mentally, and the challenge of being a first generation college bound student in my family.

Serving others by utilizing the lessons I have learned through my experiences and my talents is how I want to live my life. As a first generation college student, I want to integrate myself in programs or start my own mentorship program where I am able to mentor and give back to students who are first generation college students as well. I feel it’s important to reach out to first generation college students because the amount of pressure we receive with little to no guidance can be discouraging and lead us to feel alone in this process.

Going into college, I would like to peruse many of my goals. I would like to start out getting my general studies in and then build up to become a Registered Nurse. After I accomplish becoming a Registered Nurse I would like to work on becoming a Nurse Practitioner. One reason I am striving to complete these goals is to be able to have a good future and hopefully a good job will come out of this. Neither of my parents went to college and I want to be able to accomplish that for myself.

I am a non-traditional student. I began my college matriculation 15 years after receiving my high school diploma. I started my family before focusing on my education and career. I have been fortunate within that 15 year gap to be a stay-at-home mother. When my youngest son began kindergarten, I began college classes. This reversal of traditional education and family construction has given me a unique perspective on life.

Let me tell you about two students. Student A attends Brooklyn Technical High School. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and loves to play sports such as basketball and football. He’s part owner of a clothing brand, and has a passion for video games and computer software; having hopes that one day he will own a software company. Student B has been working since the age of fifteen; at one point having to work two jobs in the same day. He’s been surrounded by gang violence most of his life, and the biggest fear he has is failure. To both my detriment and benefit, I am student A and student B.                                                                                        For most of my life, I’ve been caught in between

At Quickstart before freshman year I had a panic attack before I even entered the building. I saw how big the school was and I became extremely nervous about starting school. There was so much pressure to make the next four years, the best four years. Also, none of my friends were attending Lane with me and I did not know how to make new friends. Upon entering the building on the first day I got lost a couple of times but I made a couple of friends and lasting impression on my teachers.

Before I started school I went to daycare instead of pre-k. There were three teachers that I can remember and they were Miss Amanda, Miss Jessie, and Mrs. Teresa. Out of all of them Miss Amanda was defiantly my favorite Before I started school I would go to daycare four days a week and Friday I would stay at home with my dad because back then he had Fridays off. We went to daycare because we do not live near any of our families. I liked spending the days at daycare and also at home with my dad. When I was a kid I was pretty shy and reserved kind of like I am now also. When I was little my hair was very short and extremely blonde. My food favorite food when I was little was meat. Any kind everything from chicken to steak. One memory I have of being in daycare was when one day I pulled a

I am the first in my family to go to college. i am a middle child of five other children. two older sisters, an older brother and both a younger brother and a sister. growing up school wasnt always important to me. as i got older and had already really struggled through my first two years of high school i relized i was just being lazy and i knew i needed to pull myself together and focus on things that were really important and crucial for my future. junior and senior year i worked hard and brought my grades and GPA back up. throughout the prosses of refocussing myself i relized i had a love for helping people. i decided that i wanted to teach but wasnt sure what exactly i wanted to teach. i started volunteering a large amount

Public school systems need to be more sensitive to their students. Parents play the major role in determining a child’s academic outcome, but the school system needs to notice children who don’t necessarily acknowledge their gift. These children need guidance -- I believe it is the schools’ responsibility to provide it to them. I have been through a situation that makes me feel strongly about the subject. My example is an indisputable case in point.

“I walked around the school. Looking at groups of people. Talking. Laughing. Horsing around. I was alone. My mom keeps moving around. I haven’t even had a real friend in almost five years. This is my life. This was my life. This will be my life.”

High school; four years of hell. Basically. If you were lucky, you got out with passing grades and a pretty good heart left. Now yes you could be one of those exceptions, where you get the best grades ever or you find your sweetheart in your first or second year of high school. But those were special cases that rarely happened. Usually you ended up twenty-six years old, working somewhere, watching as little fourteen year olds supposedly have found their true love.