{"id":584,"date":"2015-06-19T17:14:16","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T17:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/dome\/?p=584"},"modified":"2017-10-30T19:17:07","modified_gmt":"2017-10-31T00:17:07","slug":"first-generation-college-student-3-things-i-wish-i-knew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/celtadmissionsblog\/freshmen\/first-generation-college-student-3-things-i-wish-i-knew\/","title":{"rendered":"First Generation College Student: 3 Things I Wish I Knew"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Take<\/a>By Ronnie Piper<\/em><\/p>\n

However you decide to define first generation college student, it pretty much fits me. My parents did not complete a bachelor\u2019s degree, I was the first in my family to attend a four-year college, the first to attain a bachelor\u2019s, and for that matter, the first to hold multiple master\u2019s degrees as well\u2014yup all me.<\/p>\n

Was it scary? At times it was intimidating, not simply because I was the first in my family to go to college, but also because I started my journey as an\u00a0international student<\/a>\u2014talk about a fish out of water.<\/p>\n

The following are three things I wish I would have known as a first generation college student that could have made a world of a difference in my college life and will definitely help you do the same.<\/p>\n

First in Your Family to Go to College<\/strong>? You are Not Alone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day after day, week after week and month after month, there was one thing that never wavered in my college mind: \u201cI was alone.\u201d The truth is there were hundreds of students going through what I was going through. Thirty percent of students today are first generation college students, while 4.5 million are both first generation and low-income students, according to a\u00a0University Business article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeff Davis, author of \u201cThe First Generation Student Experience,\u201d said approximately 4.9 million students between 2000 and 2015 are made up of a large proportion of first generation students. Davis also adds that most of the increase in enrollment will come from first-generation college students. In translation: you are not alone.<\/p>\n

Help is Available for First Generation College Students<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sheer numbers of us (first generation students) out there means we matter. We always have mattered. We just don\u2019t seem to know it.<\/p>\n

In his 1963 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said \u201cthere is power in unity and there is power in numbers.\u201d That power means, not only do we matter to ourselves, but we matter to colleges around the nation as well. Colleges have not only done their research on first-generation students, but they have also sought to go above and beyond to provide support and services particularly for you. Yes you!<\/p>\n

One of the most common support systems is the establishment of\u00a0first generation college student programs<\/a> support groups where you can see the other faces on campus who are experiencing the same trials and tribulations you are. There are many first generation student challenges and this will provide you with an opportunity to use each other as a resource to be successful in college, and in some cases, post-graduation too.<\/p>\n

Other support services include class and time management resources<\/a>, student services, college counselors<\/a>, study groups and even professors. If you feel your college doesn\u2019t have what you need in terms of assistance, then you have a bevy of online forums and websites at your disposal, including but not limited to:<\/p>\n