When approaching a new journey or new experience we can find ourselves both excited and nervous at the same time. Nerves are a sign of passion and being nervous about change is a good thing as it represents your desire to enjoy the outcome of this change. However these nerves can sometimes be overwhelming and take the joy out of an experience and cause us to be a little apprehensive about what is to come.
As a first generation college student myself, I can echo these statements and also add that there is a sense of discomfort that is present when you are the first in your family to go on to high education. There may be family members and friends who express that so and so didn’t need college to be successful in life, or that it’s way too expensive to attend anyways. There is nothing easy about the idea of taking on a challenge that you’ve never seen someone in your family accomplish. Having a role model to guide you and help you is an advantage that first generation high school graduates just don’t get. This need of modeling is engrained in us as humans and carries on heavily in those early years of life. Toddlers model behaviors that they see and pick up on words that they hear. This behavior carries on into our adult years as well. We tend to model after our parents, or older siblings or cousins, so when there is no college student in a home representing this action of going to college, it feels a little impossible to imagine going yourself. This is the first barrier to higher education that occurs naturally for first gen students. Without a trail to follow the journey to college looks unattainable. The good thing is, that even without what it feels like everyone else may have, college is not unattainable and college is never NOT an option for someone and that is especially true with the help of community college.
With the millions of dollars available for scholarships, student resources, multiple platforms to learn, numerous online options and certificates and careers to choose from, community colleges lay down a path to success for these first generation students and beyond. It’s almost as if community college is that “yellow brick road” leading to the Emerald City (a Bachelors or trade school career).
Even though community colleges do hold all of the tools necessary for students to be successful, it doesn’t mean the journey to and through community college isn’t as complicated as a four year university. There is still the same FASFA application process, there’s still the same class registration period and all of the other quite intimidating experiences that come along with college education journeys. There are a few steps to make before choosing to attend community college. These steps are not necessarily REQUIRED but do help to create a successful both high school and college experience. Basically, this is how to really maximize your college experience right before you attend, and during your first two years.
1. Utilizing the high school years to be involved:
This can mean being involved in your community or school clubs or organizations. Of course this also comes from a place of privilege as not all students are able to be in clubs or sports for financial reasons or other reasons. But being involved in your community can be as simple as volunteering at an animal shelter or visiting a local homeless shelter. These actions can help you find a personal passion and help establish a resume to use while attending college.
2. Complete financial preparation: Community colleges will provide a platform for assistance with the financial preparation required to attend college. There is a lot to fill out in FASFA that can be difficult to complete when you’re not familiar with a lot of the terminology. Because these actions are on a dedicated timeline, completing them sooner than later is always best practice and helps to streamline the entire registration process.
3. Find Scholarships: A common misconception is that scholarships are only for smart students. While having academic success does set up students for certain scholarships, a high GPA is not the only way to find dollars to apply to college tuition. Many scholarships are essay based, or even connected to some other form of submission. With a quick google I found this “unusual scholarships site” with unique scholarship opportunities that are real ways to get cash for college.
4. Research, Research, Research: Knowing what is to offer at a community college and what opportunities lie ahead is going to be important in the planning process and taking full advantage of the classes available. For many, the transfer program is going to offer the pathway to a bachelors degree at a four year university. With the help of an advisor who can assist in the required attention to detail and plenty of personal research, a transfer plan can be established early on so that each and ever class taken has the highest potential to transfer and apply to a degree at the University of choice.
4. Register for Classes early: This tip is simple. There are registration deadlines for many reasons and classes in the first two years of college tend to fill up pretty quickly since the amount of students taking the courses is pretty high. The classes will be offered in multiple times of the days and weeks but if you need your schedule to cooperate with a work schedule, then registering for specific times will be very important. Create reminders around these deadlines so you aren’t left with 8ams on Fridays & 6-8pm classes (unless these sound like fun times for you).
5. Take advantage of student resources: Advisers are not meant to be seen once a semester during registration periods, they can serve as the first point in communication with many other resources. They may direct you to the organization or club that assists with resume building. Advisors have the ability to provide help with more than just registration for classes, their goal is to get you to complete your degree and they are well aware that it takes more than just registering for classes to make that goal a reality.
6. Attend office hours: Attending office hours is not a shameful experience and can actually show your professor that you care about your grade. Learning is unique to each and every student so hearing information in a form other than during a lecture with other student’s can be helpful and establish a healthy habit of not being afraid to ask for help. Having questions is not a representation of the lack of ability. Struggling to understand information is natural, and searching for the help is the unnatural part that requires a real strength, so definitely take advantage of office hours with professors.
7. Don’t just “choose a major”: If you do just choose one and decide to change it, there is not a problem with that, but definitely feel like you are not just picking a major because it is “easy”. Students change majors around 3 times before finding the one they graduate with. I recommend really taking the time to learn what degrees your college has to offer before picking, even if you think you may know what you want to study. For first generation students this is especially important, because we are not usually familiar with all of the career opportunities available because we did not see these happen first hand around us. There are careers in topics that you wouldn’t expect, such as Game Design, and Aeronautics and Aviation Technology which are not as traditional as business or education.
8. Ask for Help: Ultimately this piece of advice is going to provide the foundation for a successful college experience.
“Community colleges are certainly one of America’s best-kept secrets.” – Jill Biden
The information to be successful and to achieve even the biggest of dreams is out there for all to achieve. Even if there are quite a few barriers to your goals of higher education, there is always a way to get through them. College is for everyone, opportunities are for everyone.
