The question rises about how much support do First Generation students get? Throughout time we’ve seen the fluctuation of costs, but one thing that has always been pricey is College. Leaders students receive college preparation classes starting Junior year, where they will meet with counselors one on one or as a group.
Defining First Generation Students
First question one may wonder is “What Is a First Generation Student?” One component of a First Generation student is a student who is the first in their family to have citizenship or permanent residency. Along with this, they would be the first to attend college if their parents had not completed a 4 year college. In this article, the first generation students interviewed will be the first in their family to have gained citizenship or permanent residency and attend college.
Sean Richardson, a senior who will be the fourth generation in his family to attend college, stated the most difficult part of the college process so far has been “Starting it.” For first generation students there are also challenges with starting the process due to cultural, language, and financial barriers.
Cultural Barriers
Cultural barriers are also a significant factor when it comes to whether first generation students receive enough help with the college process. Due to cultural barriers, stereotypes may come up. For example, in multiple cultures it is frowned upon for women to pursue an education and is typically seen as a task for men. Within cultural barriers, people will find many more struggles based on traditions, stereotypes and some internalized racism. According to Ace Diemer, a first generation Puerto-Rican American, she faces some side struggles because she has other family duties to attend to such as cooking dinner for her family.
Language Barriers
There is a language barrier that affects families from being able to understand the documents. “Sometimes I don’t even know how to translate these words myself into Spanish and it leads my mom to getting confused as well,” says an anonymous Senior at Leaders. “Sometimes I ask them about personal information in a way where it doesn’t seem scary for them because of their legal status.” For this student they believe their parents are “afraid of the legality aspect such as Taxes, Financial Aid and stuff like that; it’s probably the cause of xenophobia.” Xenophobia is a term used to describe fear of foreigners. In this case, the student expressed how their parents are afraid of the process because it exposes them to legal status, income, taxes and a language they do not understand.
During this conversation a very important key element to attending college rose. What resources do First Generation students know of to help them financially?
Financial Barriers
Austin Lin, a First Generation Chinese-American senior, shared that Leaders has been able to “help me but not fully” in the application process. In order to better support him, “I think they should have 1 on 1 talks about financial aids, and scholarships available to me. Understanding what financial resources are available is key “We mostly talk about Fafsa, HEOP and EOP and that’s all I know.. They also send out scholarship opportunities too”.
Austin is one of many first generation seniors attending Leaders High School. The resources Austin refers to are Federal and State resources offered to eligible students based on their income.
Mental Toll
Madiha Ayaz, a First Generation Pakistani-American, found struggles in the college process. “Mentally I think it’s very stressful. I think the process isn’t that stressful because the teachers help but deciding on a college or what major is”. Angel Torres, a First Generation Mexican American student, finds struggles aside from the physical application itself. “The stress, it’s like thinking about the applications. Being scared about the thought of applying is kinda like you’re growing up.” Staff at Leaders have been able to help students by reaching out to students. According to Angel Torres, “We have a whole class, and they send constant emails so if you check your emails it’s really helpful.”
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
Overall this is not indicative of all students at Leaders who have several different backgrounds, circumstances and challenges, but rather insight on what some students are finding helpful and what others would like more support in. Leaders has multiple ways of helping students with the college process whether they are first generation or not.
If you need help, you can set up an appointment to meet with any of Leaders college and career counselors to get your individual one on one help with applying to colleges, finding scholarships, or figuring out what post high school needs suit you best.