My name is Sahil Lauji and I am
a first generation, low income
college student from Atlanta
Georgia.
My mother worked in the real
estate industry until the market
crash in 2008 but without a
college education she had
challenges finding jobs
afterwards.
My father worked at a
convenience store and was shot
and paralyzed in an armed
robbery during my sophomore year
of high school.
When college applications rolled
around, I was left alone with
deciding what schools to apply
to and how to go about the
application.
Luckily I came across programs
such as Quest Bridge that expose
low income students like myself
to top tier institutions across
the country.
With the support of my father
and an assistant principal, I
applied to top tier universities
and was accepted to schools such
as Harvard, Princeton, and Duke.
And now I'm a junior at Harvard
studying government with a
secondary in comparative
religion and helping run
Harvard's first 1st generation
low income pre orientation
program.
Aside from often being one of
the only people of color in many
of my classes, I am also often
one of the few students from a
working class background.
In academic settings and extra
curriculars I am involved with,
it can be hard to relate to many
of my peers who have the
connections and networks that I
just don't have.
People from my background often
do not think about applying to
schools outside their state, so
without outreach programs and
the support of mentors I would
not be at Harvard today.
Coming from a first generation,
low income background I face
challenges with navigating
school resources, feeling
supported and adjusting to
social life on campus.
On the other hand, my wealthier
peers went to prep schools and
had parents that attended
college who could support them.
Despite this, I learned to not
have shame in asking for help or
support and instead am able to
take initiative in doing so.
Coming from humble beginnings I
knew early on that I needed to
be self motivated and
resourceful in order to succeed
and propel myself forward in
this challenging academic
environment.
