Taking My Parents to College In Jennie Capo Crucet 's essay, “Taking My Parents To College,” Crucet describes her own experience as a freshman college student who was faced with many challenges that were unknown to her, as well as the cluelessness of what the beginning of her freshman year would look like. I felt like the biggest impression Crucet left on me while I was reading her essay, was the fact that I can relate to her idea of the unknown of college life. Throughout her essay, she described her personal experiences, and the factors one might face as a freshman college student which involved the unknown and/or uncertainty of what this new chapter would bring starting freshman year of college. Crucet’s essay relates to what most of us …show more content…
The assignment was an English paper, that she had no idea how to this paper. Like most of us do, she freaked out. She called her mother, and her mother basically said that she was screwed. Most parents when we tell them about our grades, or anything worrying us can give us advice or help but Jennie was not so lucky. She freaked out because in reality, who 's actually prepared for their first college paper? No freshman is actually prepared for such an assignment. I wasn 't preprared either. She says “I called my mom and in tears told her that I had to come home, that I 'd made a terrible mistake” (Crucet 3). Crucet is obviously facing fear here. She was facing fear because for once, maybe she actually did not know what to do. As a freshman, we go into college preparing to do as well as we did in high school. Jennie quickly realized college is a completely new environment for her and I feel like her fear is quite normal for any freshman college …show more content…
I believe that because once you receive your grades in college, no one has to know besides yourself and your professor. Her parents eventually stopped asking about her grades because, like Crucet had previously stated, they no longer had context and her parents would not understand (Crucet 4/5). I think she 's saying that regardless of what grades you make, the work you put into your assignments have a greater context that just telling your parents the specific letter grade you receive. I think she came to the conclusion that this new, fresh college experience was her own experience and that she did not have to tell anyone, not even fellow classmates what her grades were. This was new to me as well, because in the past, I always told my parents my grades and my fellow peers what my grades were. We would always discuss our grades, because it was a part of being raised to discuss your achievements as students. As we transition into our freshman year of college, like Crucet clearly said, you don 't have to tell nothing to
The documentary, First Generation, follows four first generation college students who try and balance the hardships of working, sports, being part of a lower socioeconomic status and handling the challenges of learning how to apply and cover the cost of hefty college tuitions. In this paper, I will discuss barriers that some students experienced, the benefits of attainting a college education as a first generation student and some of the challenges individuals faced once they were accepted into college.
Every fall millions of American adolescents gear up to apply for the thousands of colleges and universities across the nation. For many students this process is a simple-natural progression through a linear educational track in which no extra preparation, beyond a paper application, is required. However, for many students college preparation can begin as early as conception. Alexandria Robbins follows the stories of nine students from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Whitman is known for and could be summarized by a simple term in which Robbins’ book is also titled: Overachievers. The author explores the hectic nature of helicopter parenting, bureaucratic admission processes, the culture of Ivy (a term describing the upper echelon of academic institutions), unrelenting and unrealistic expectations, and the cyclonic degradation of innocent and carefree adolescent development.
Colombo explains that “Beginning college can be disconcerting experience” (Colombo, p.1). That there will be more peer pressure from your peers and an increase expectations that you have never faced during your high school days. “In the dorms you may find yourself among people whose backgrounds make them seem foreign and unapproachable” (Colombo, p.1). Colombo also states “If you commute, you may be struggling against a feeling of isolation that you’ve never faced before” (Colombo, p. 1).
Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.
Although perhaps supportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling. In families, role assignments about work, family, religion and community are passed down through the generations, creating intergenerational continuity. When a family member disrupts this system by choosing to attend college, he or she experiences a shift in identity, leading to a sense of loss. Not prepared for this loss, many first-generation students may come to develop two different identities: one for home and another for college, the student might feel he needs to do better in college than his parents.
In Jennine Crucet’s story, “Taking My Parents to College” she really explains to the reader how challenging it was leaving home and starting a new chapter in her life. When the author and her family first arrived to Cornell University, they were sitting there when the dean ended his speech with: “Now, parents, please: Go!” Being a first generation college student Crucet nor her family had any idea that they were not supposed to stay for orientation and had to leave her as soon as they got her settled in. They did not even have all the right materials and supplies that she needed to begin with by stating, “Every afternoon that week, we had to go back to the only department store we could find, the now-defunct Ames, for some stupid thing we hadn’t known was a necessity, something not in our budget: shower shoes, extra-long twin sheets, mesh laundry bags.” Both Crucet and I suffered from similar issues during our first few weeks on our new journey in college and we both had no idea what was ahead of us.
A new generation of students has begun their journey through the life-changing experience known as college. Upon entering their new world, they seem to carry with them ideas of what it will all be like: the new friends they will make, what living in a dorm will feel like, the clubs they will join, and how the classes and professors will be. Although imagining how things will work out comes naturally to most, Carmen K. Lugo-Lugo explains why expecting certain things can be dangerous. Throughout her persuasive piece “A Prostitute, a Servant, and a Customer-service Representative; a Latina in Academia,” she gives reasons as to why this expecting attitude leads to prejudice behavior, a sense of entitlement, and stereotyping, including racism
In all, I feel that the author’s message was to prepare the reader being the college freshman on the journey to becoming a college student. The author wants the reader to know not to lose what they have learned before making the journey of becoming a college student. I believe that if you stick to what you have learned prior to becoming a college student, and know that this is a journey where you will find success, in not losing who you are you will graduate and will have fewer worries on the
In the August 22, 2015 edition of the New York Times by Jennine Capo Crucet wrote an article titled “Taking My Parents to College.” Crucet was born in America, while her parents were born Cuba. Crucet and her family all took a trip to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York from Miami Florida to attend Orientation. She talks about her own personal story about the time she took her parents to college. Throughout the article she talked about the things that let you know she was a first generation college student. Although Crucets parents did not know they were supposed to leave right after orientation Crucet, still did not want them to leave her.
Entry to community college allows just that. Addison explains, “just follow any one of the 1,655 road signs, and pop your head inside—yes, independent film, a first independent thought, a first independent study” (212). Many potential college prospects are turned away because this self-discovery found in community college cannot be found in private college; however, Addison insists that community college is the golden ticket to regain these would-be scholars. To begin, acceptance is necessary for admittance to many colleges—not community college. In the words of Addison, “down at X.Y.C.C. it is still possible to enter the college experience as a rookie” (213). Any student desiring education, preparation, and self-discovery does not need to look any further than community college, which, for some students, is the only shot at the college experience. On top of this, community colleges provide opportunities like no college—public or private—could. Community colleges provide introductory courses that could not be found in regular institutions; this allows students to explore and get their feet under them. To find and pursue an interest proves more difficult at a college because intense classes are provided from the beginning, whether students have declared a major or have yet to decide. In sum, Addison claims that an atmosphere designed
I wasn’t a total bookworm, and I definitely could have studied more, but I wasn’t a slacker, as I still studied a decent amount.” I was wondering what the toughest part of college was for my mom, so I asked, and she responded, “The toughest part of college for me was the clinicals at Rush, because the professor I had for them was awful, and that's heavily sugar-coated.” There were some things she thought about this teacher that I have decided not to repeat, as they were not sugar-coated. College did change my mom, and definitely for the better, as I expected the answer to be when I asked how college changed her, and she responded with, “College makes you learn how to accept other people and other cultures that were different from what you had experienced your whole life within your family, where your culture is the only one that exists within your family, with a few exceptions here and there, as it also made you realize not everyone was like you, people don’t always do things the way you do, or react to things the same way you do, which is an extremely beneficial learning experience.” My mom had a role model in college, one that confused me when she said it, as it does not really pertain to college, as when asked she responded by saying, “My role model in college, as it is today, was Mother
When your college student you are starting a new journey. You have moved to a new area and are no longer living with your mother and your father. According to Girard, this is where you need to “stop worrying” and focus on what “you can do to better yourself.” Every student wants to graduate and work their dream job and live in their dream house, but like Girard said you have to work at it.
My parents have this perfect life for me pictured in their heads, and the first thing they see me doing is going to college. They expect the best of me, and so by going to college, I will not only have fulfilled their goals for me, but I will have accomplished one of the goals I have set for myself. In our culture, when parents come to the age where they can’t support themselves, it is the duty of the children to look after them.
For a majority of student they were raised with parents that are closed minded; however, college will attempt to break away from a narrow perspective into an open mentality. For parents that did not attend college will have a certain way of doing things; therefore, it is impossible to change the way they think. For example, parents can be focused on religion and morals, and anything that contradicts the values of their religion is absorbed. Lubrano states, “I’d seen how ideas could be upsetting…” (581). Furthermore, parents do not like to be challenged by their children, since they are older they believe that they know more. It can be very upsetting for parents when their children appear to out-smart them. Students attending college are exposed to new information on a daily base. According to Lubrano he learned how to self-censor when talking to his parents. This only began the separation between Lubrano and his parents, since he felt that he had to be someone he’s not. In addition, he felt since he was young his parents ...
My journey as a student has always been focused on the path to college and success. Before I even set foot in kindergarten my mother, a college dropout, always told me that “honor roll wasn’t an option” and that I would be attending college in the future and achieving a degree. Most of the time I made these requirements. Most of the time I was awarded honor roll or had a newly edited list of colleges to attend, but sometimes life got in the way of my dreams of achieving success.