First-Gen Expectations, 2/9/16

In the article that I chose, USC (University of Southern California) held a summit which invited all of the "first generation" students on campus. This summit was held in order for these students to get the right kind of assistance they need in order to succeed. It made students aware that they were not alone and that there are many students around that went through the same thing. The summit helped cause awareness of diversity and culture as well.

In class, we definitely take a lot of time to talk about our parent's immigration stories and how it has impacted them in a major way. Today in my blog post, however, I'd like to shed light on the "first generation" - students in particular. I, along with many of my friends are first generation students. My parents and their siblings, and also all of my friend's parents and siblings are all immigrants who came to America to establish better lives for their families. Being a first generation student definitely has its major drawbacks. For example, my parents don't know about the college system very well, so I have to do a lot of the financing for college and setting up loans on my own. On top of having that financial stress, we also have the pressure to do super well at school. Since my parents are putting me through school, there is absolutely no room for failure, or else it basically seems like they came to America and made sacrifices for nothing. Living up to these expectations is a day to day challenge to all first generation students.

I think that it's great that universities have programs like first generation summit because it gives students the chance to relate to one another. I remember first coming into NDNU, there was a program for first generation students that was really helpful at the time. I hope that all universities take the initiative to realize how important a program like this could be for their students.



http://dailytrojan.com/2016/02/07/inaugural-usc-first-generation-summit-held/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-first-generation-college-students-struggle-20160121-story.html