Recently, I got my first job ever as an office assistant and found myself with a plethora of advice coming from my parents. They shared their own work experience stories—their successes and failures, which gave me a stronger idea of what it’s like to work, as well as a stronger sense of self-confidence.
I was, however, very surprised to find all of this coming from my parents. Throughout my middle school and high school experience, my parents weren’t able to smoothly guide me by giving advice as they did for my first job because they, as immigrants, were not acquainted with the American school system. In addition to this, neither of them had finished high school in their home town. That is not to say that they were not supportive, as they did instill in me a good work ethic and hope for success as any great set of parents would.
But due to due to circumstance, my journey to college was perhaps filled with a little more confusion than the average student. While many parents were planning to enroll their students in study programs for the ACT/SAT tests, I was explaining to my parents why I needed to take them and what they even were. Our first teachers are our parents, so it can be daunting if you need to plan important things like college without their continuous help. Added to that, when you’re in a family that’s, generationally speaking, barely starting out here in America and learning the system, dreaming about going to college is a cinch, but actually taking the necessary steps to go the whole way and make it is a completely different story.
Why? Because not having any experience or information about something can be scary. Imagine the journey to college being like getting to the other side of this river:
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| (The sign reads: Beware, Flesh-Eating Fish) |
If you have people that are close to you helping you through it, they become the people giving you supplies to build your own raft across, and the whole process becomes more manageable. You know what you are doing, you have advice if you need it, your confidence is up and running, and you probably have a better chance of even making it over the river. Sometimes, though, advice and information isn’t readily at your fingertips or a phone call to mammy away.
There were definitely times throughout my stages of preparing for college that I got frustrated and wondered where to turn. I remember feeling very clueless and lost when it came to filling out a variety of forms and paperwork, for example. It really could be a horrible feeling:
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Never become discouraged, though. It’s never too late to learn to swim in the sea of resources out there for you. Also, notice how I forgot to draw our theoretical friend a hand... |
My parents were still there to listen to me ramble worriedly about exams and college essays they had never heard about before, and along the way I found myself communicating with counselors and other people who could give me the tools and ideas I needed to get to make it over the river. (Well, I’m not done crossing it because I haven’t exactly graduated from college yet, but still.)
In any case, if you feel discouraged or at a disadvantage when it comes to going to college, take the initiative and find sources of inspiration and information that can help you.
- Don't be afraid of seeming "ignorant". Ask questions!
- Discover online communities (like www.latinosincollege.com ;) ) that can help support your dreams!
- Visit college websites.
- Talk to your college counselor.
- Always have an open mind, and don't get discouraged.
As for me, I’ve almost grown to like the piranhas.
Buena Suerte,
Ana
By the way, this is an article about Latino parental guidance in education that I found rather interesting:
Troll River
ReplyDelete*Meanders in a snake-like pattern: Cross me once? Gotta cross me again*
Makes you think that you can cross it once to the other side, but you're really walking along its flow.
Hahaha wow! But sometimes the more difficult rivers to cross become the most fun and rewarding in the end. Especially if it's a troll river--that's hilarious and true. I guess you could see life as a troll river, but that's what makes it worth it because you won't be bored.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not "walking along its flow", though because, you would know if you're actually swimming in a river full of piranhas (or I would hope?).
why dont talk about no ideal cases like when you have no suportive parents, tell a how to. for all the cases you want or just peak one case and be very in detail ... but its fine, in your case the damn proud you will earn if you have success it just makes cry of joy to anyone
ReplyDeleteOh! But this is the TROLL RIVER!!!! You think they're piranhas but then you fell into the river (you can't be perfect, can you?); the river is really just filled with regular fish, not the piranhas you'd imagined. You're safe... as long as you know how to struggle back up to a bank ;)
ReplyDeleteINSANITY WOLF: Falls into river of piranhas... (your turn)
Ana, I love your story!! Maybe you could pick some particular anecdotes of your high school experience where you had to do all the research and talking to other people 'cause your parents didn't know how to guide you, to share with us?
ReplyDeleteIn my case, I didn't really talk to my parents about college until I got accepted to them. They knew I was applying to some, but overall, it was my college counselor and my own research (mostly the internet..emailing, reading blogs, etc.) that became the fountain of information I used to go through the process.
ReplyDeleteI did, however, start very early (around my sophomore year), and I fear that if I hadn't thought seriously about college before, I would never have been able to know what it is that you can do to prepare for college.
That said, the research part and finding out what to do became pretty simple since I started so early. Perhaps the most difficult thing for me was explaining to my parents what everything was and meant when I was so stressed out about it, so it added to the stress.
So overall, if you're a first generation college student, the best advice I can give is to start the preparation, the search, the applications early. The sooner the better!