By Daniel Familia, LatinTrends
At first the idea for going to college is almost impossible to see. When acceptance letters start coming in; decisions need to be made. The college journey is an exciting time in any 18-year-old teen’s life. But for a first-generation college student it is everything but easy.
When sitting down and discussing the idea of going to college with one’s parents we often find ourselves in a difficult situation. Our parents (supposing they are immigrants) do not understand the higher education system in the US, and assume that everything is the way it is in Latin America.
When I tell my parents that I am pursuing an associate degree at a community college they look at me completely lost. What is an associate degree? What is a Liberal Arts degree? Is it going to get you a job? Is a community college a real college? These are questions that one finds great difficulty to answer, and prove frustration at times.
The reality I live in is the following. I live in The Bronx, New York, and like many first-generation, Latino, college students I ended up at a community college. This is because many of us have limited resources such as: SAT prep, tutoring, AP classes, honor classes, etc. If we would have these resources available more of us would go to college, and have a real American college experience.
