 
(Wilma) Dreams were meant to be realities. 
So everyone should have a dream. 
They should be able to be what they want to be as professionals
and seek the career that they want 
and it can be done with focus perseverance and support. 
 
(Mary Catherine) I was the first female in my family, 
I had two older brothers that had gone to college, 
but they were much older than I was. 
It was disorientating and a little scary, 
because I didn't know what to expect. 
(Kiet) I'm actually first-generation Asian-American 
and first-generation college student. 
So, the process was very difficult as in my parents were very hands-off 
when they sent me off to orientation.  
I went alone.  When I moved in I went alone. 
So I had to learn to reach out for help on my own. 
(Amanda) Being a first-generation college student was really exciting
and scary at the same time. 
I felt I was doing something that my parents weren't able to do
and so coming to campus I really wanted to be successful 
and make them proud of me. 
(Wilma) My journey started probably in high school when 
I was told by a high school counselor not to go to college. 
I am a first-generation, 
Hispanic female in my family to go on to college. 
 
(Mary Catherine) I wanted to be a teacher. 
That was pretty much it. 
I wanted to keep learning. 
I was really excited about learning in college rather than in high school 
because I could take the classes that I wanted. 
(Kiet) A lot of people in my family they work in either 
off-shore on fishing boats or 
they own a nail salon or work at the casinos. 
That wasn't something, a lifestyle I didn't want for myself, 
but it was also a different lifestyle than my mom wanted me to live. 
(Olegario) I think that I just flowed into it and that is all you have to do. 
You knew that some how or another
people created an opportunity for you to go 
and I'm just thankful that it turned out the way that it did, 
because for so many it doesn't turn out that way. 
(Amanda) I wanted a better life for myself and my future family. 
My parents were wonderful. 
We grew up in a very comfortable lifestyle. 
I had seen friends who were older than I was
who chose not to go to college and I saw what their life was like. 
Not that it wasn't good, it was just a lot of hard work. 
(Janet) Big John, my adopted father, was in construction and his goal
 for every single one of us was just get an education. 
It was through that influence that I asked him,
"Hey what do you think about me being a  teacher?"
"Great!" That is what he encouraged me to do. 
(Nina) It was really a force behind me
as far as there is no other choice,
either you're going to be going to school or 
you're going to be out of my house. 
So there really was no choice,
I really knew there were no jobs that you could work with 
just a high school diploma. 
I had worked at McDonalds since I was fourteen years-old,
I knew I didn't desire to continue to do that. 
 
(Mary Catherine) Studying was new. 
I really didn't have to study in high school 
and so my first semester was my lowest GPA 
because I didn't get into the habit of studying, just because. 
I was studying when there was a test. 
(Kiet) My time management to be honest, was horrible. 
My first year I was probably literally a part of ten or twelve different
student organizations and my GPA reflected that after my first year. 
When I realized that my GPA wasn't where it needed to be, 
is when I had to seek out my own resources, seek out mentors, 
and seek out services on campus to give me those  resources 
to learn how to prioritize and how to work with my study skills. 
(Janet) I don't believe there was anyone to connect with. 
That was the hardest challenge for me. 
So instead of blossoming, 
as our college experience should be a time to do, 
I turtled, as  we say, I went back into myself. 
(Nina) That first year for me was really hard I really didn't understand
what it was to manage my time. 
It wasn't that I wasn't bright. 
It was just that managing your time, being away from home,
being away from a familiar place, having to work with different people,
different professors and different outlooks 
and working was a totally different world for me. 
(Olegario) No one in my family knew much about college and
much less about the process involved. 
(Mary Catherine) If I was told no, 
then I would go find the rule or what ever, and 
figure it out for myself so that, I could be an advocate for myself. 
(Wilma) And my dad said, 
"Okay, well how much is that exactly going to cost?"
And I said, 
"Well why don't you give me about $200 and then I'll find out the rest." 
He said,  "Okay I'm going to write this check out for you for $276."
I said, "Okay that should get me in."
Having no idea, none what so ever about the cost. 
(Olegario) A lot of the time when we come in,
we don't know where to go to seek information and to gather the facts. 
If you know where to go to when you need something, 
then it will make the process much better for you. 
If you don't do that then what tends to happen you just rely on yourself. 
Here in college you just can't do everything on your own. 
 
(Wilma) I remember telling my parents about being accepted to
Michigan State and my mother said,
"But you already have a college degree, why would you want to go on?"
And it was my father who said, "That's wonderful!  You need to go!"
(Mary Catherine) It was an expectation, probably because my brothers 
had already gone and it was an expectation for them. 
So they supported me just in their like in giving me the confidence
and even just having that expectation was support. 
(Kiet) They didn't support me, 
because they didn't know how to help me. 
They didn't know the process of getting financial aid or applications. 
So a lot of times I would fill out the applications on my own
and they would sign off on it. 
(Amanda) My parents were very supportive even though 
they didn't have a background in college themselves, 
they were supportive with me going to a four-year institution
which I  think makes a big difference because where I am from
a lot of people want their children to go to a community college first 
and transition into college. 
(Olegario) I will always have their support personally, but I think that,
they didn't  know what they didn't know,
so in terms of supporting me with college and the college process
I didn't have that, but I always knew they wanted the best for me. 
(Wilma) I discovered that I was pretty much alone in a lot of ways. 
I didn't have the money to really pay for everything. 
Contrary to popular belief there wasn't a lot of money available for 
Hispanics to attend these Big Ten schools. 
(Janet) My mother sent me $50 the first semester I was in school. 
That was the only money she ever sent me. 
I cleaned houses and I worked in concessions stands and
paid for my college all of myself. 
 
(Wilma) I just knew, what I needed to do in order to get through that. 
(Mary Catherine) Really that freshman year gave me the drive and 
develop those skills to continue, 
those life skills, that I didn't have before. 
(Olegario) For the first four years of college 
I always thought about what feeling 
the diploma would look like, or what it would feel like. 
When I finally saw the diploma in my hands,
I realized everything I ever did was for a good reason 
and I always had the hope. 
 
(Amanda) Asking questions because that is what people are there for. 
It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. 
(Wilma) I knew what I would have to do, in order to get through. 
I was very determined. 
I wasn't leaving Michigan State University without a degree. 
(Olegario) You have to know where to go. 
So get to know people, your friends, other majors, faculty and staff. 
They are the ones that are going to help you, 
when you feel like you are doing it all by yourself. 
(Mary Catherine) I was successful because 
I kept everything that my advisor had given me. 
So when the advisor gave me the incorrect information for a
different department, I was able to go to the other advisor and say, 
"This is what is what I was told and 
I made very important decisions based on that information." 
And because I had kept all that information, the documents, 
the degree plan and everything, 
I was able to do what I needed to do to pay for college and stay in. 
 
(Wilma) I would have sought out more assistance from adults. 
I would have gone to my parents more. I didn't go. 
I was extremely independent and that in a way is a strength
but for me was also a challenge, 
because I put myself in very stressful situations. 
(Olegario) The college experience really taught me how to build
relationships, by giving people the benefit of the doubt, I've always
seen the best we can work together instead of against each other. 
(Amanda) Becoming involved and getting involved early and 
making those connections and friends, you know, someone to eat
lunch with or to study with it really did impact my career. 
 
(Olegario) Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. 
(Mary Catherine) Get involved on campus. 
(Kiet) Seek help, because although we may be labeled first-generation,
people don't  know that. 
(Nina) Don't be afraid. 
You're being a pioneer. 
(Amanda) Get to know your professors. 
Get to know the people in the business office. 
That is what everyone is here for, is to help you. 
(Wilma) The journey has been exciting, successful, but you do have to muster up all 
the strength within you in order to be fully successful. 
(Amanda) Don't feel like you are going through this alone,
just because your family has no college experience 
that's what the faculty and staff are here for. 
