The first true semester of my physical therapy education is now in session–and it’s undoubtedly a beast. Seven classes which anyone can look up on my DPT program’s curriculum page (Virginia Commonwealth University). I’m only two days in but I fully admit to feeling overwhelmed. I know the feeling will pass once I get a feel for the semester. Anyways, what better way to start procrastinating than to write an extensive blog post instead of reading about cell biology? (I’m less worried because cell biology is my strong suit!)
For this comprehensive post, I thought that I would discuss another topic that is personally pertinent: status as a first-generation student of higher education. When most people think of diversity, especially in the context of education or employment, they think of geographic location, age, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, race & ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc… Just speaking from personal experiences, an often overlooked category is status as a first-generation student. What does that even mean? Status as a first-generation student means that neither of your parents (or broadly, immediate family members) achieved a bachelors degree level of education. So, like myself and many others, I was considered a first-generation student for admission into college and PT school. Okay, why should I care about this arbitrary diversity metric? If you’re reading this and have parents with one or more bachelor’s (or higher) degree(s), I would ask you to think back to the high school days where your parents prodded you about college. Likely, they gave you passionate lectures about college’s importance and drew from personal experiences. Can you try to imagine where you’d be without that push? Maybe there wasn’t a lot of prodding and you found the importance yourself and perhaps through the peers/educators who surrounded you.
Of course, I can’t speak with direct experience on this. If I’m blowing it out of proportion, let me know. Indirectly, I have worked with students whose parents are hyperinvolved their child’s future, admittedly to the point of annoyance or even application detriment. Still, I feel envious for those students whose parents were so deeply involved in their child’s future and educational pursuits. These are the parents who have directly experienced the kind of transformative education most institutions hope to facilitate. They intimately understand the direct and latent value of an education.
All of this to say that this is not the case for many parents, and subsequently, for their respective child/children. I even feel slightly privileged for my own case as a first-generation student: my parents certainly understood the value of an education, but definitely not the practice of it. As in, they knew that I had better go to college and that it was an important step, but they offered little knowledge on how to actually get me there. I was also fortunate to have an older sister who attended college before me and while she gave me the best advice she possibly could, the advice was limited to something along the lines of ‘don’t go where I went, here’s why it sucked…’ Even that was better than nothing. The reality is that, in many families with aspiring scholars, higher education is simply not a priority and these students have no family members to support their pursuits. When discussing first-generation status, most people associate it with immigrants. Yes, this is the case for me personally (not that it should diminish its significance), but I encourage you to recognize that this is a status that spans virtually every location, race & ethnicity, and age in this country. Furthermore, status as a first-generation student is recorded criteria in college and graduate level admission. If you yourself are educated, the level of education of your community should matter to you.
I believe in education as the great equalizer for socioeconomic mobility. And if I haven’t made myself abundantly clear, this first-generation status is important to me. It has seen my parents work back-breaking and gruesome hours to provide whatever support they can for me and my sister. It has led them to poor financial decisions, loss of savings, and no concrete future financial plans. For myself, my first-generation status has meant that I live with the constant pressure to manage both my own finances and that of my parents. It has also manifested into never taking for granted the graciousness of others. What I mean is that if financial stability fosters independence, financial instability fosters reliance/dependency. Now if that sounds bad to you, I would shift the perspective and say that I am not where I am today because of myself, but because of the good people I’ve met along the way (although I wouldn’t call myself successful… yet). I have a tendency to rely on others more, but (hopefully) I do it in a meaningful way that fosters connection. This whole topic has been on my mind because of the gracious people I’ve met in class already.
The first-generation status can be a part of one’s identity. It is certainly a part of mine. Yes, it often means that I can be financially stingier than others and that I’ll be more vocal when school activities force us to spend even more money. However, I am extremely proud of being first-generation. It has taught me never to underestimate the power of an education, to be unafraid of vulnerability and even taught me how to prioritize my finances: I spend on what’s important–people.
Thanks for reading. Please share with me your thoughts and perspective, I’m very curious to hear them. Comment here on WordPress or on IG @firstwealthhealth.
ASJ
First Wealth Health 