This article was originally written for FirstGenerationStudent.com, now a part of ImFirst.org.
Considering what it means to be a first-generation college student transports me instantly to my childhood home in the South Side of Chicago, to the moment when my father and I sat together, both staring at the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form—seemingly written in a foreign language. I remember the feeling of anxiety rumbling inside me. The exhilaration of being the first member of my family to go to college had dissipated, replaced by constant waves of self-doubt and worry. I didn’t realize that getting in to college wasn’t the crescendo—in many ways it was just the first hurdle.
The First Hurdles
Going to college was a given. My father instilled the crucial importance of education in my sister and I before we could even read; my mother, who passed away when I was four, had already imparted to me a feeling of pride in who I was. My sister, with whom I learned the lessons of life, looked to me to lead the way; and, my grandparents and countless other family members on whose shoulders I stood expected me to embrace this opportunity.
My father always wanted me to go to college, but he never anticipated the amount of paperwork that comes with that dream. He did not realize that applying for financial support would require divulging much of himself, and he refused to fill out the FAFSA form because he was private and proud. He did not understand the need to turn over so much personal information, including his annual salary, to perfect strangers, as well as to his own daughter. I found out years later that he had lost his job for part of that year, adding to his own conflicted feelings. It took the intervention of my high school counselor and many of my own pleadings (and tears) to convince my father that my hopes of attending college rested on that form.
So yes, I would be the first in my family to go to college. What father and I didn’t know is what a challenge it would be to even get there. I didn’t realize that you had to pay a fee even to apply. I didn’t realize that living in the residence halls meant bringing your own blanket. I didn’t realize that we were responsible for buying our own books, or picking our own class schedules. So college to me, as is the case for many other first-generation students, wasn’t just about learning academics, it was about learning about life.
Shaped By The Challenges
These very experiences have shaped who I am today, personally and professionally. I went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree in English and, finally, a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies in higher education. As president of a phenomenal community college, Montgomery College, I am blessed to be in a role that allows me to help students just like me: students who are navigating the uncharted waters of higher education.
I recognize that I was fortunate to have the devoted support of a parent. I did not have a language barrier. I also had the luxury of focusing solely on my academics without the additional external pressures that so many students face today—such as the responsibility of supporting a family, or the legal barriers faced by Dreamers (unauthorized immigrants who are under the age of 31 and entered the United States before age 16).
Helping Others Over the Hurdles
At Montgomery College, we hear about the extraordinary challenges and balancing acts that our nearly 60,000 credit and noncredit students face. We hear of the student who works full time to support his family. We hear about the student who wakes up in the homeless shelter while it’s still dark to catch bus after bus to make it to class. We hear about the student who came to our college despite gaining admission into a prestigious four-year university, opting to first receive an excellent two-year education at our college, at a considerable cost savings. Their stories are different, and yet they all have the same common denominator: the determination and resilience to receive an education.
ACES: Helping Students From Underrepresented Groups Succeed in College
At Montgomery College, we are determined to be intrusive into the lives of our students—to ensure that the challenges of being a student typically unrepresented in higher education do not create a self-fulfilling prophecy. For that reason, we have partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools and the Universities at Shady Grove to launch the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program to assist thousands of students from groups that are underrepresented in higher education—including African American, Hispanic, low income and first-generation college students—in earning their baccalaureate degrees. As ACES students enter 11th grade in local high schools, they are assigned to academic coaches from Montgomery College who work with them and their families to create and support a college success trajectory. This inaugural year, nearly 900 students are enrolled in the program. These students receive academic tutoring and SAT preparation, individual assessments to determine personal needs and concerns and a variety of support services too numerous to mention. And, we’ll continue to provide this type of support once our ACES students reach our college, and even once they transfer from our college into four-year institutions or the workforce.
ACES is but one of the many ways that Montgomery College is dedicated to making sure that all of our students can focus on receiving an education, rather than on the hurdles that precede and follow admission. We must minimize barriers and erase those feelings of doubt and anxiety. With support and with programs like ACES, I am confident that more and more of our first-generation students will become proud college graduates. Who knows? Maybe they, like me, will pursue a career in academia and decide never to leave college at all!