Cabrera 1

Salvador Cabrera

Professor Holly

English 101

26 March 2019

Assignment#9:Draft

“Students whose parents have graduated from college help their children

succeed in college by passing down experience”. (Linda banks, Washington Post,

2015). First generation students entering college today face many obstacles in front of

them. Being the first to go to college means no workable knowledge for college

success. Although many first generation college students see their status as first

generation college students as more of a reason to motivate themselves towards there

college success because no college role models where available these students

decided to become the mold of college success themselves. I agree that there are many

first generation college students who have flip their status to benefit them in college, but

others who still require a role model to give them advice, and model success for them in

college are more likely to fail on their college journey to success if they don't get the

support required to overcome the obstacles they face in college.

For many first generation college students navigating the college campus is the first

obstacle they face. They don’t know how to navigate through the campus, find their

classes, or find the writing center. This is partly due to having no advice given to them

from an experience advocate of theirs at home. By definition first generation college

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students have no one with in their immediate family with college experience, as a result

no working advice for college success can be access. Someone with college experience

could have easily told the student that colleges usually keep maps throughout the

campus that tell you exactly how to find a building, or tell them that most colleges keep

a printable map on their website. Instead first generation college students rely on trial

and error when navigating the college campus; largely because they have no working

model at home to give them advice on how to get where you’re going on a college

campus.

Another obstacle that stands out for First Generation College students is the lack of

successful college role models. According to (Brown, Gilbert-Critical Questions in

Education, vol. 7, no. 2, 2016, p. 116)Parents, guardians, and/or a significant person of

academically prepared students play a pivotal role in fostering their academic

aspirations before kindergarten and throughout their K-12 education (Jackson, 1996;

Levine & Nidiffer, 1995). In order to be successful in college they need to know what it

looks like, become familiar with it, and model themselves by it. First generation college

students don’t have this relationship with the working model of college graduate. So

Instead when many of these students come face to face with their college experience

there more likely to run or duck. First generation college students are more likely to go

into academic warning, or drop out. There also more likely to take remedial classes in

areas like English. This in part is due to having no working role models for college

success who modeled reading, or writing in their lives during their formative years which

would later reflect in their academic success in college.

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Finally let's explore a possible solution to these two specific obstacles first generation

college students face today. Community colleges today in America are filled with first

generation college students. Colleges know this, so many have begun and sustained

successful resource programs to help support the success of first generation college

students. Mentorship is a large part of the support given by these programs. These

colleges hire first generation graduates to mentor the transitioning first generation

college students into higher learning. When first generation college students can have

someone to go to for advice on how to get where they're going, or support their

academic success. Then they can better overcome obstacles leading toward there

college success. A mentor can tell you what to expect, they can tell you how to navigate

the field, and give advice on other obstacles facing first generation college students.

Also a mentor can sit with you and read to you aloud for starters, or promote your

education in other ways like keeping books around you so you become familiar with

your education. Even if no such programs exist at a specific college first generation

college students should seek out a working role model for their college success.

In closing we have unpacked two major obstacles facing first generation college

students such as first having no idea how to navigate the college campus, and secondly

not being academically prepared for classes such as English, and lastly we addressed a

possible solution to counter both these obstacles through seeking out successful first

generation college graduate as mentors. If first generation college students find

themselves in the category of those who can't self-motivated their way to college
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success and can rely on trial and error to get it right then they should immediately seek

out a mentor to improve their chances of overcoming the obstacles they face to improve

their chances of college success.