- It's one of those
things that's looked at
as kind of the movie star dream.
And that's great to talk about,
but really the expectation is that,
Oh, well, after high school
you'll probably just get
married, have a family,
and your husband will work.
And that was just the
norm for where I grew up.
(upbeat music)
My name's Jordan Tapley.
I graduated in 2015 with a biology degree.
I grew up in a town
called Griffin, Georgia.
I spent a lot of time in a smaller town
where a lot of my family was.
Practically 200 people
that I was probably related
to most of them.
So growing up in a town
where college wasn't entirely the norm,
and in family, it wasn't the norm.
It was a bit challenging at times.
A lot of it, particularly as
we got closer to college time,
was more so me doing a
lot of research on my own
and talking with a few of my friends
who also had the same goal in mind.
When I think about where
I get my drive from,
most of it stems from my family,
particularly from my grandfather.
A few weeks before I
graduated high school,
he sat me down on the
couch away from the rest
of the family, and he basically said,
"Jordan, you're much bigger and brighter
"than what this town can offer you,
"and you have to go to college."
He said, "It's gonna be hard,
"and it doesn't matter how hard it is.
"It doesn't matter what roadblocks
life throws in your way,
"that's what you're gonna do."
Unfortunately, the week after
my high school graduation,
he passed away.
But he got to see me graduate high school.
And he got to see me be
accepted to Georgia Tech.
My parents said, "We're
incredibly proud of you.
"We have no idea what to
do here, figure it out."
I think the biggest challenge
of being a first-gen college student
is probably the need for
growing up a little more quickly
than you might have expected to.
I was having to deal
with a few more things
that maybe some of my peers whose parents,
and whose grandparents had gone to college
didn't really have to be concerned about,
because they kind of
had that past experience
supporting them, and they
kinda knew what to expect.
Looking back to where I came from,
from a town where college isn't the norm,
a big job isn't the norm,
women working isn't the norm,
it's not how it has to be.
You know, you can, if
you want to be a doctor,
if you want to be an engineer or anything,
you can do that no matter
where you come from.
The advice I would give to
students who are first-gen
and come from certain circumstances
that they believe might
not get them to college,
is that's not true.
Start pursuing it now.
Now is the best time to do it.
Start looking at schools
that you've always dreamed
of going to.
What does it entail?
Do you have to get these
grades in these classes?
Okay, great, take those
classes next semester.
It's all about taking it a day at a time.
You can't worry about things
that might be an issue
next week or next year
or once you start college.
Just figure out what you need to do today.
And get really excited!
You're basically starting off
a tradition in your family.
And you're telling future
generations in your family
that you can do this, too.
What you think you're capable of
isn't necessarily your limit.
There's so much more you can do.
There are so many options out
there that you can choose.
These are your circumstances now.
That doesn't mean anything.
You can be wherever you want to be.
You can do whatever you want to do.
And it just takes a little
sweat, a little work.
And it's all worth it in the end.
