First-generation college students come from a variety of backgrounds. Some grow up without means. Others are students of color. Still others are children of immigrants who came to the United States to improve their lives.
Regardless, first-gen students share a common thread: they are the first in their immediate families to go to college, putting them up against myriad challenges their peers don’t have to contend with as they seek degrees in higher education.
Identifying supportive faculty members, staying on track with coursework, getting advice about the right classes, and pushing away feelings that you don’t belong are all part of the every-day struggle for first-gen students. From the time they start thinking about college to the time they graduate, first-gen students navigate university life through a combination of savviness, luck, fear, intelligence and instinct. While their families are supportive, they often enter without the necessary tools to succeed.
“How will I get into college? How will I get through without drowning myself in debt? How will I do all this by myself? As a first-gen student, there are so many questions we ask ourselves,” says Kali de Saint Phalle, a Clark Honors College junior who is majoring in political science. “It can be a struggle when you don’t have that person in your family who has gone through it and can advise you.”
But they find a way, through equal parts motivation, grit and commitment to succeed on behalf of their families. Here are some stories about the first-gen students who call the Clark Honors College home.
--By David Austin, Clark Honors College Communications