My first semester as a first generation student in a nutshell: I came to college (SMSU) to “get away” from home. I had no clue what I didn’t know. I was an introvert and went home every weekend. I didn’t ask for help. I didn’t get involved on campus. I did not know that I could advocate for myself. I didn’t know how to study. [Read more…] about Kim Roam, Childhood Education and Family Studies

My mother and her mother before her never had the chance to attend college. I got that chance and though it took a while for me to learn how to learn from my professors-eventually earned a master’s degree and now my daughter has a Ph.D.! [Read more…] about Nora Cox, Communication Department

When I entered college, “first-generation college student” was a term that I had never heard. I had grown up in a single-parent home and witnessed my mother leave the house by 5 a.m. every weekday to work in a minimum-wage, physically demanding job at the Big Smith factory and come home with her fingers stained blue from sewing back pockets onto jeans and overalls all day. I don’t remember how old I was when I realized her options were limited because she had only a high school diploma. However, I intuitively knew that a college degree would be my means of escaping a similar fate of living “from hand to mouth.” [Read more…] about Valerie Turner, Career Center

I am a first generation college student from my family. I grew up in a small community in northeast Iowa. My father never graduated from high school but my mother graduated from HS earned her RN from a local hospital. My father worked his entire career as a linotypist for a publishing company while my mother worked as a nurse. Hard work was always expected. [Read more…] about Dr. Tammy Jahnke, College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Regardless of all obstacles and challenges, being the First Gen. in my family has been my strength that I harnessed to pursue my education and set a good example for others. [Read more…] about Shami Tarlanov, Disability Resource Center