Let me start by saying that all college students have it tough one way or the other. Whether it’s being unable to afford textbooks, or pursuing a major that tanks your GPA, college students are constantly struggling to thrive as they embark on their academic journeys. College can be compared to a staircase that never runs out of steps: it is an exhausting experience that seems to go on forever.
First-generation college students, or students whose parent/s did not attend college/university themselves, share differing struggles from the typical college student. Personally, my parent/s did not attend college, but they are nonetheless happy, healthy, and raise children who strive to make them proud. Their educations were obtained in Europe, and after graduating high school they chose to move away from their small town and to America. If it weren’t for my parents’ gutsy decision to move to a whole different country instead of going to European universities, I am certain that my life would not be filled with as many opportunities as it is today.
Being a first-generation student isn’t a negative characteristic, and it can be refreshing to see said students vocalize how proud they are of themselves for pursuing an education past high school. That being said, perhaps the most prevalent issues I’ve observed amongst first-generation students are psychological.
First and foremost, first-generation college students, from personal experience and careful observation of my peers, feel unhealthy amounts of pressure to succeed academically and beyond college. We are under pressure to not only obtain excellent academic standing, but to impress our parent/s post-graduation. Will we have respectable, well-paying jobs? Will mom and/or dad be proud?
In many cases, first-generation students typically come from less wealthy backgrounds. Clearly, there is pressure to obtain financial security in order to take care of not only oneself but of our parent/s. We want to make our families proud, and show them that the schools we chose to invest in were worth the price tags. In my case, I want to make my parents confident in their decision to leave Europe for America.
Many of my first-generation college students friends are under the agreement that the decision to pursue a college career can create feelings of guilt. We feel guilty that we are pursuing a higher level of education and that we therefore may need to rely on our parent/s for financial support. On the other hand, we also feel guilty that we are evolving as individuals in a completely different environment, away from the constant watch of our parent/s. We feel stress when we have to fill out important documents for school by ourselves because our parent/s may not understand how to themselves. We resent that we desire to gain more knowledge because we know our parent/s didn’t go to college and that they turned out just fine.
While I’m certain the list of first-generation college student struggles is limitless, it is crucial to remember that our worries are valid but nonetheless overall discouraging. Rather than use our energy to question if we are impressing our parents, we should use our energy to positively impact our educations. Our futures will never be certain, or spelled out for us, so we might as well savor the present.
College, again, is like a staircase that never runs out of steps. Instead of using our energy worrying about if there are any more steps, we should be more concerned with using our energy to climb as many steps as we can.