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Selena Cipres

Susie Huerta

English 1s

15 December 2016

How First generation college students can succeed

The percent of students who dropped out of school also went up, from 30.3 percent for

the 2008 class to 33 percent for the 2009 class. That represents 153,000 students who started in

2009 and now don't have a degree, but may be saddled with higher-education debt (Chuck). The

author Kavitha Cardoza a special correspondent at WAMU Radio, explains the reasons which

students are struggling to succeed in college. One reason is that money is an issue that students

are facing, because they dont have the money to pay their college education. College students

are forced to work more, in order to pay for their college education, eventually making work be

their main focus. Parents of first generation students arent able to guide them in their college

journey, which is a problem that doesnt allow college students to be able to complete their

education. Since it makes a difference if the student's parents had the experience of going to

college and graduating. Thats how the parents are able to tell their students what they should do

to succeed in college and what they shouldnt do. First generation students having to worry about

how their families are doing financially while being in college is a problem, because if their

families need help the students will start working to support their families. Sotomayor is a

women that at a young age had to learn how to inject herself, at the age of eight years old since

her parents were scared to hurt her. This lead her to take the initiative to do it by herself since she

realized that for the rest of her life she would be injecting herself, because shes diabetic. When

her father died she was the head of her family, she was the one that would make sure that her
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brother was doing good in school. Also, she had to be strong to help her mother overcome her

fathers death. Sotomayor had to push a side her feelings, because she wanted to bring her family

back up. She was a first generation student which faced many obstacles in her college journey of

becoming a judge. Todays college students can learn from Sonia Sotomayor's educational

journey to take pride in their heritage, take advantage of every opportunity, have confidence in

their choices, and challenging themselves, will help them build the skills they need to complete

their college degree.

College students should have pride in their heritage which is the strategy that Sotomayor

learned throughout her educational journey. By college students doing that that will help them

succeed in their education, because its important for them to keep in mind where they came

from. Which will help them not have self doubt in difficult situations they face in college. A

moment where Sotomayor demonstrates that she had pride in her heritage was when she decided

to help. Hispanic patients that needed help with interpretation, because they didnt speak english.

Sotomayor said, So I resolved to take a different approach, organizing a volunteer program

under which our members spent time at the hospital on a continuous rotation so that there was

always someone who could interpret for the patients and intercede with the staff if necessary. We

also ran bingo nights and sing-alongs, finding that some very uneasy minds nonetheless able to

dredge their memories for the comfort of old songs their parents had sung (Sotomayor 202). By

Sotomayor deciding to organize this program shows how she not only wants to help Hispanic

people. But how she could identify herself by bonding with her people when she would have the

bingo and sing-along songs nights. Which proved Sotomayor that when she became a judge she

would be able to make the best decisions for people. Having pride in heritage will allow todays

college students to have a strong mindset of who they are and impact the decisions they make.
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Students should take advantage of every opportunity that they are offered, because it can

be the first step to reach success. Since they are practicing and growing as an individual and

preparing themselves to when they are in college they can have these skills. Many first

generation students arent taking these opportunities that can impact their lives in the long run.

Taking every possible opportunity presented, first generation college students will be able to

succeed and reach their goals like Sotomayor did. Which was that took advantage of the chance

she had that was to read the Bible in front of a group of people. She knew how important it was

for the field she was heading towards that she had the skill to speak in front of people.

Sotomayor states, Doing the Bible reading was not the same as giving a speech, of course,

because you didnt need to worry about what you would say or even memorize it. It was a long

way from arguing a case in a trial, but a small step in the right direction. And I had to start

somewhere (Sotomayor 110). By Sotomayor taking this step of reading the bible in the church

she attended, she was able to build that skill of not letting opportunities go. Even if it was out of

her comfort zone, but she was aware of how much it would help her and she would get an idea of

how it would be to speak in front of a crowd. Especially since she wanted to become a judge and

its very important that she is comfortable speaking in public and that she shows confidence in

herself. Todays college students should take advantage of the smallest opportunity that they get

that can benefit them in their academic success.

In order for students to succeed they need to have confidence in the academic choices

they make. Students should apply Sotomayors strategy that was to believe that she was able to

go further than her ability. A situation where Sotomayor capacity of being able to get into the

most prestigious Universities was doubted was when. She had an appointment with her counselor

and they were discussing what schools she was thinking of applying to. Sotomayor said, I told
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her that I wasn't really interested in parochial colleges; I wanted to apply to Harvard, Yale,

Princeton, Columbia, Stanford She looked at me. Okay. And that was the extend of her

guidance (Sotomayor 147). The fact that Sotomayor had the confidence and strength to say this

to her counselor, demonstrates how Sotomayor gave herself the opportunity for doors to be

opened for her. She didnt let her counselor's opinion affect her, but instead that just gave her

more ambition to accomplish her goals. Even without her counselors support she was going to be

able to make it. First generation students should have confidence in the academic choices they

make and not limit their abilities because they are told that they are only able to achieve certain

academic goals. By students growing confidence in themselves they are allowing themselves to

believe that they are able to go further in education.

College students that are struggling and dont believe that they are capable of graduating

college should challenge themselves in college, because that will help them discover talents that

they wouldnt think they had. Sotomayor realized that she wasnt challenging herself so she

made that change when she was at Princeton. Sotomayor explains, I just inclined to join

anything until Id gather my bearings and felt more comfortable with my course load. Ive since

come to recognize a personal tendency. In highschool, I hadnt tried anything like student

government or the Forensics Club until my second year, and it would be the same at Princeton

and again at law school (Sotomayor 182). Sotomayor demonstrates how she accepts how

throughout high school she had this pattern of not challenging herself by starting new things. The

specific phrase that Sotomayor says, it would be the same at Princeton and again law school

shows how she was going to stop that pattern and challenge herself at Princeton whether it was

by joining a club or other extracurricular activities. By college students taking the chance to
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challenge themselves in college will permit them to learn more about the capacities that they are

able to accomplish.

In order for college students to be successful in completing their college education they

should be proud of where they came from, go for every opportunity that comes their way, believe

in their academic choices, and challenge themselves in college by being out of their comfort

zone. The importance from learning from Sotomayors educational journey experiences, is that

college students should know, and keep in mind that it is possible to complete and be successful

in college. The experience that Sotomayor went through, even though she was doubted she didnt

give up and was admitted to Princeton. First generation college students should learn from that

and never give up even when everyone is expecting them to fail. Sotomayors story not only is

helping todays college students, but also helping the future college students as a guide in college

and as a motivation which they can use later in life.

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Works Cited

Cardoza, Kavitha. "First-generation College Students Are Not Succeeding in College, and

Money Isnt the Problem." The Washington Post. WP Company, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.

Chuck, Elizabeth. "Just Over Half of All College Students Actually Graduate, Report

Finds." NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.

Sotomayor, Sonia. My Beloved World. Detroit: Thorndike, 2013. Print.