It signals the start of summer like the thousands
of college students that don robes and mortarboards
and line up to walk across a stage to receive
the diploma they’ve been working toward
for years.
So I’ll be getting a B.S. in statistics
and I’ll be graduating today at 4 pm and
I’m really excited about it.
San Diego State University's Anthony Porter
is the first in his family to complete a college
degree. He's beaten some tough odds. First-generation
college students are more likely to drop out
after their first year than students whose
parents have college degrees. They’re also
less likely to be on track to complete their
degree after being enrolled for three years.
Porter has done more than beat those odds
though, he is graduating with honors and receiving
his department’s award for academic excellence.
He says he owes his success to his supportive
family and SDSU”s Educational Opportunity
program for first-generation and low-income
students.
They really help you pick your classes and
help you to find the resources that you need
around campus. But – also, they give you
opportunities to lead and they gave me the
opportunity to be a mentor, so I was able
to do one-on-one mentoring with a lot of students.
It feels really good when you see them grow
and get good grades and stuff like that and
you’re helping in this process of time management
and helping them set their goals and helping
them choose their major. And that was – the
greatest thing for me was being able to do
that type of stuff.
Porter’s mother Kelly say she never doubted
he would shine as a college student.
Anthony – he was so focused on whatever
it was, whatever it was. He was like the only
kids that was always doing homework, literally.
I don’t know why – I didn’t push him,
he just did. He had to finish it, he had to
do it, that’s kind of how he’s been. You
see them going into a whole different major
and then changing majors. I mean, as a mom,
that kind of freaks you out. But, once he
found what he loved, it was just no doubt,
so it was fairly simple after that. It’s
just exciting! He did it!
Being the first in the family to take a step
into higher education is part of the culture
across town at San Diego City College. About
a third of the students are first-generation
students.
Marissa Gonzalez has spent three years earning
two associates degrees. One is in biology,
the other in behavioral and mental health.
The honors student says she had to give college
a couple of tries. She first enrolled in 2006.
The reason I wanted to start school was because
I was bored at home and when I went to school
I found that I had a dilemma because I didn’t
like school either. I was bored. I just didn’t
find the reason I wanted to be there, to continue
with my classes. I didn’t find it fun, like
a teenager would have and so I decided to
drop and hang out with my so-called friends
and party.
When she re-enrolled in 2008 something changed.
In high school, I rarely – like I said – read
my assignments or did anything and when I
actually started reading and doing everything
the professor told me to do I realized, wow,
I’m learning something new. So, this is
the key to success.
But, her new-found love of learning wasn’t
all it took to keep her in school. She also
joined the college’s MESA, or Math, Engineering
and Science Achievement Alliance. Gonzalez
says the program helped he stay on track,
even when school seemed like too much.
There were some times probably around midterms
and finals where it just seems like there’s
no possible way I can do all these things.
And I just have to sit there, let the tears
roll down my face and say – bring me back
to block one where I started and really just
give me that extra push as to why I decided
to go to school. And so I haven’t stopped
ever since. And, there’s been challenges,
I’m not going to lie. I did want to give
up, but I didn’t.
Realizing how her parents struggled to support
her and her two sisters on minimum wage salaries
was part of what pushed Gonzalez into school.
And, with her on hand to see her graduate,
she says she’s still surprised by how far
she has come in the last three years.
It’s still surreal to me that I’ve accomplished
this and that I came so far to earn these
degrees and I know tomorrow is going to be
a different day because I earned these degrees.
I heard the first degree is the hardest, so
I know that I’m able to do anything past
this associates degree, so I’m really excited
and I’m happy.
Gonzalez is already enrolled in a program
to get a bachelor’s in nursing. Her husband
Steven says the example she is setting could
pave the way for another degree-earner.
In the military I’m away sometime 6, 9 months
at a time and I’m not going to be there
to help her. So, the way she did it on her
own – mostly – that stood out more to
me. For sure it was inspiring and made me
check myself and say, hey – I can do it,
too. Our family can do it, too. We want a
whole line of scholars in our family. It would
be something really great to see.
That story brought to us by education reporter
Kyla Calvert. Anthony and Marissa aren’t
finished with their academic journeys yet.
Marissa is already taking classes at a U.S.
University for her nursing bachelors and Anthony
plans to go on to pursue a master’s in statistics.
