[music]
I’m really proud of having accomplished
the feat of going to college and getting my
degree, it’s just a sense of pride.
To be in college, it’s a huge achievement
for me personally.
I have a blast, I’m very involved, so it’s
something that affects all different aspects
of my life, really, so it’s really everything
like, I’ve known for the past four years
when it comes to all the jobs here, my classes,
my social activities that I’m doing so it’s
pretty much everything to me.
I think for me to go to college, it was kind
of a “giving back” to my parents.
I sort of felt like because they didn’t
go to college and they had sacrificed so much
for me to be able to go that I just felt like
I was going to be successful no matter what.
To be in college, I think, is such a rewarding
experience and it serves as an awesome
way to learn, prosper, and grow and
also meet some of the people that you’ll
cherish for almost the rest of your life.
It was a really big moment for not only me,
but for my family.
My parents talked a lot about the sacrifices
that they made, the choices that they made
not to finish college, or in my mom’s case,
to even start, because they wanted to provide
an opportunity for myself to better myself
and to do more than they were able to do,
so to not only come to college, but to make
it through and do well and now to have the
opportunity to be someone that other students
who are First Gen can look up to.
I would say being in college is one of
the greatest achievements that I’ve done
so far.
I grew up in a very small town that a lot
of people don’t leave from, so for
me to be at a college like Fisher is a great
achievement and I feel like it really
inspires other people because I was kind of
looked up as as a leader because I did
a lot around school that it kind of inspires
others to reach for the stars and that
it’s bigger than North Collins, there’s
a bigger world out there.
You know, sometimes we’re perceived as an
ivory tower, just academia in general, so
I think what a First Generation they bring
some of the reality of the world, I think,
to the campus.
It helped bring that ivory tower down a little
bit and make it practical and give a practical
vision for what the world really needs right
now, so I think First Generation students
are extremely important to Fisher in a sense.
I think it’s really important to have a
day that celebrates First Generation students
because there are a lot of First Generation
students on campus that don’t get recognized.
We have a First Generation Scholarship Program
but only a select few get chosen for the program
and there’s about 500 of us on campus so
a day that celebrates the hard work of those
who worked hard to get here I think means
a lot.
It was a very important decision for me and
my family.
I was the first in my family to attend college,
to complete college.
It was very motivational as well.
The rest of the family, my younger sister,
when I completed college, also enrolled after
I did.
My nephew, who is also a Fisher graduate,
decided to go that path as well, so it was
important not only for me but for everybody
after me in the family to have that opportunity.
I think it’s important to let people know
about the possibilities with what you can
do with your life.
I think you should be humble and not forget
your roots and realize that a lot of people
who don’t have either opportunities to get
college educations or pick another path
still have a good work ethic, but the people
that I’ve met in my life have had good work
ethics and a lot of common sense as well,
not just educational academic sense, so I
think it’s important to recognize that but
at the same time too I also think that you
shouldn’t close the door because nobody
before you has done the same sort of thing.
So I think it’s important that we recognize
the hard work of people who are willing to
take a chance.
I feel really lucky to be in college, so it
is obviously very expensive to be in college
but I am a First Gen scholar so I get some
of that paid for to go here.
My parents weren’t able to go to college
so it’s really a privilege for me
to be able to come here and be able to study
and be able to kind of to get a job
after because my parents weren’t necessarily
able to.
I think it’s wonderful because, again, I’ve
always been very aware that I’m a First
Generation student, and I often ask my students
in classes if they are as well.
I think it’s a way to bond together and
to share some knowledge that we have, and
I think for a lot of students it makes a big
deal to them, to know that many of their faculty
are themselves First Generation.
As the first person in my family to attend
school, I was so excited to be able to continue
learning and grow my knowledge and have so
many more opportunities after I finished school.
So it meant a lot to me and it meant a lot
to my parents that I was able to continue
learning and have more opportunities available
to me.
I think it’s so important to celebrate First
Generation students because I just think we
bring a lot to campuses.
I think we come with our own stories, I think
we come with a lot of background, a lot of
culture, and a lot of history that other students
might not bring to campus, and honestly I
just think it’s a huge accomplishment, something
to be proud of, and it’s something that
you might not understand or know how to navigate
at the moment, but I think it’s a huge part
of my identity so I think it’s important
to celebrate.
It’s like a birthday, you know.
We celebrate birthdays so why can’t we celebrate
First Gen students?
[music]
