I’m the type of person who always ties things to specific memories. I do it with people, songs, places, smells and literally anything that subconsciously leaves a mark on me. The best memories I’ve made so far in my life have been in college. With only a few months left before I graduate, I catch myself thinking about the whole experience, good and bad. I walk through campus and remember my 18-year-old self walking to class, when I was hardly confident and felt out of place. Before college, it never crossed my mind that being a first generation student could make my experience any different than those who weren’t.
My parents were born in Mexico, my dad didn’t go to high school and my mom never finished it. My family knew nothing about four year universities at the time, and they still don’t. They didn’t help me apply to schools and didn’t understand the concept of someone leaving their family to pursue their education. Where I grew up, these behaviors and attitudes were normal. When I came to Chico State I learned to see the differences between first gen and non first gen students.
To give you a few minor examples, I didn’t know what a midterm was or why I should ever go to office hours. I met people whose parents took them on multiple college tours and helped them pick out the right school. Coming to class was a culture shock every day because they were filled with white people, I wasn’t used to that at all. Everyone seemed to be enjoying school more than I was, which was also not normal for me.
By the time I heard about inclusive programs and clubs like the CCLC or MECHA, I had already became comfortable with being uncomfortable. I was depressed and all I wanted was to move back home. I remember being on Thanksgiving break and crying to my parents because I didn’t want to go back to school.
My freshman year taught me how to be resilient and how to suck it up, but why should first gen students, who mostly consists of minorities and low-income families, have to learn these lessons during an important time like this? A lot of us suffer in silence while non first gen students are getting the ideal college experience, because they have that privilege. I know I’m not the only one who struggled during their first year or so, and others have had it worse, meaning universities need to change their priorities and invest in their first generation students.
If you know anyone who’s about to make the transition from high school to college, and be the first in their family to do it, do them a favor and become a resource for them. Having even one person for support could make a difference in how that student will remember their time spent in college.