Dear First Generation,
Let me start by saying I am proud of you. You are here because you value a higher education, like most college students. The difference is though when your senior year started to slow down, and it was time to decide where to go the search was more difficult. You didn’t have the option of going to mom and dad’s alma mater. When deciding on a school you had to search for hours and hours, weeks and maybe even months. It was like a second homework project, looking at majors and tuitions costs every night, trying to decide which school fit you the best. When being asked what you plan to do after high school, you didn’t get your inspiration by following in our parents’ footsteps. Instead, you may have learned that you knew you wanted a career that you loved, not just a job that pays the bills.
Sometimes it can be frustrating, guiding yourself along the way. You are trying to explain FAFSA to your parents, but you still don’t fully understand it yourself yet. You have those late nights, where Google becomes your best friend. Before you arrived you tried to research information about things like what to pack, and what to expect academically and socially. Now that you are here you find yourself trying to figure out what an internship is, or what to expect, along with how to prepare for life after college. You don’t have the option of sitting and listening to your parents’ stories about their wild college days. You have to go and experience it for yourself and learn from your own mistakes.
It will all be worth it. There can be those times you second guess yourself. Your parents didn’t go through all of the stress and hard work that goes into college, and they are fine. You see pictures and Facebook posts of your friends back home, getting married and having children. The thoughts of why am I here? Remember that you are here to fulfill a dream for yourself. You are here to reach your goals. When you finally walk across that stage at graduation, you will realize it is all worth it. You are making yourself and others proud, by your strength and determination to be a first generation college student.