Fadaee 1

Kamand FadaeeProfessor Lynn C. RaymondUWRT 110320 April 2015WP #10I held a conversation with my parents about first generation college students and the struggles they face when they come to college. Right off the bat, my dad empathized with them because he was a first generation college student. My mom however, said there shouldnt be an excuse for someone not to go to college and/or someone goes to college and struggles. She claims that if a person is truly smart and knows what he/she wants in life and wants it bad enough, theyll work for it and get it. I could understand my mom feeling this way because both her parents are conservative and college-educated people. My dad however, his father was a worker at the former Kings palace in Iran and his mom was a seamstress/stay-at-home mom. Both my parents shared their viewpoints on when they went to college. My dad told me when he first moved to Michigan when he was eighteen, he didnt have any money or job prospects and spoke little English. He managed to find two jobs and paid for school ou t of his own pocket until he joined the football team and the lead coach Bo, took over his school payments. He said that Bo was like his father, told him what classes to take and gave him girl advice. Needless to say, not all first generation students are as lucky as my dad was to have Bo. My moms parents both had studied geography and cartography in Switzerland and then moved back to Iran to start working at a big firm. Her parents were strict and they told her, her brother and sister that college was the only way to go. So, my mom attended Azad University to study clinical psychology. She said that surprisingly enough, her parents never really helped her out with the whole college process. The only thing they helped her with was money for food and thats it. She had to support herself by working two jobs so she could afford the cab fare required to get to class. Her dad wouldnt let her stay in a dorm. What really surprised me was when she told me about my uncle. She said that my uncle went to study agricultural sciences but dropped out halfway through his sophomore year and their parents completely supported him financially. They paid for apartment so he wouldnt have to move back home and gave him some money each month for food and utilities even though he had a job teaching music.