My story begins within my past memories of growing up low-income and knowing from an early age I would have to get into college through merit alone. Coming from this background made college seem out of reach. There were numerous obstacles I had to overcome to get to where I am, which is studying Political Science at TCU. Before college, I took on a job, joined as many after school clubs and leadership positions as possible, was in the band program, and maintained a high GPA so that I could be a competitive candidate for my college of choice and get my education financed through scholarship.
I had to navigate the college application process on my own and all that it entails such as FAFSA, financial aid, submitting test scores, getting teacher recommendations, housing applications, and applying for honors as well as finance my own tuition. Additionally, I could not rely on my parents for guidance on what to expect once I got to campus. So, dealing with roommate conflict, balancing campus life, and feeling extra pressure from family to be the first to succeed were unanticipated. A development that I especially did not expect were feelings of isolation like I was an 'imposter' on campus because I don't have a long family tradition of going to college, I don't come from a similar background as many other students, and I don't have the ability to choose a career out of passion. As an older sister I am also experiencing everything first, so through my experience I have plans to help my younger siblings through these difficult processes and transitions, so they don't also feel that extreme pressure and anxiety that I did.
My background and my first-year experience as a first gen student were the steppingstones to my discussion on first gen advocacy. I see a great need for resources that help mend that gap of inexperience and confusion and this is why I saw this as a fitting topic for my project.