Ellington

Jennifer Nguyen begins her day at 5 a.m. She cooks breakfast for her three younger siblings, allowing her mom to sleep in, and then makes the 45-minute commute to campus. By the time she gets home in the evening, it’s 8 p.m. and Nguyen has to help her sisters with their homework before starting her own. In whatever time she has left, she and her brother divvy up the household chores.

“It’s definitely hard to balance the college life — be a student and take care of your family,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen is a first-generation student in the psychology department. As the oldest and first of her family to enter higher education, she feels pressured to do well.

“A lot of students are very relied upon in the first generation,” Alejandro Espania, the interim director of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMAD) Counseling Services, said. “Meaning that students will have to rush home and take care of younger siblings sometimes, or help with finances. In the last year we’ve seen a few instances where families have lost jobs and students are taking loans out to help pay their family’s expenses … they were working 10 to 12 hours [per week] and are now working 24 to 35, which probably will take their GPA in a place they don’t want to [see it go].”

Last autumn, 4,828 first-generation students enrolled at the University of Washington, a number that has been on the rise for a number of years. For this expanding population, adjusting to college life can be overwhelming.

The main obstacle, said Emile Pitre, OMAD associate vice president for assessment, is the lack of mentoring. Without family in academia, students struggle to find their place on campus.

“Number one is the lack of role modeling,” Espania said. “There’s a lack of knowledge for the family and a lack of preparation.”

Espania cites a 1.0 drop in the average first quarter GPA of incoming students, which can often be magnified among first-generation students who have not had the same collegiate preparation.

“It’s a lack of resources,” Jan Edrozo said, a sophomore and first-generation student. “Not just what you know, but who you know. [My parents] aren’t going to be around to teach me how to write that essay. Because my parents don’t have a college degree, they can’t provide me with the resources to assimilate into this environment.”

There is a clear correlation between low-income and first-generation students, but Pitre is quick to correct that they are not all disadvantaged. Sometimes first-generation students come from middle-class families where parents earned vocational training. Because they did well without a degree, less emphasis may have been placed on their children’s education.

“My parents helped me [make] the transition from high school to college …” Nguyen said. “But at the same time, they couldn’t help me. They were unaware of all my obstacles: the English barrier and our native language. It was hard.”

Nguyen’s parents immigrated from Vietnam 20 years ago and never completed their elementary education. In spite of this, Nguyen herself never considered not going to college. Still, the sophomore sometimes finds it difficult to set aside her personal life and focus on academics.

“In a family where a mom or dad, or possibly an older sibling has attended college, there’s an understanding in the time away from a family,” Espania said. “But for a lot of first-generation families, [they wonder] ‘why wouldn’t you come home? You’re only in school for three or four hours every day. Why wouldn’t you come home for dinner with us, or a visit to grandma’s?’”

Espania recalls one student who received a phone call from her aunt after she’d left her three children and husband when he relapsed into alcoholism. As the oldest and only one able to admit her uncle into rehab, the student hopped on a Greyhound and headed east without thinking to tell her instructors or roommates.

For first-generation students, who often come from close-knit communities, family takes priority over everything else, Espania said.

“It’s hard to tell a student that school is important and [they need] to move away from some of these other things,” he said.

That said, Nguyen acknowledges that her parents are the reason she has made it as far as she has, “They’re there every step of the way, as long as I complete my four years.”

To ease the transition to college life, services like OMAD, the Gateway Center and the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) provide a holistic support system for first-generation students. Recruitment staff visit high schools, attend job fairs and maintain constant contact with first-generation communities.

A 2003 program also allows economically disadvantaged students to defer their housing and confirmation fees.

“If we go back 40 something years, I was a first-generation student …” Pitre said. “I think a combination of all of those services: academic support, mentoring are important in order for first-generation students to be successful. Opportunities to study abroad and to participate in research all will improve the chances of first-generation students successfully matriculating.”

In the 1999-2002 cohort of data, the average six-year graduation rate was 72 percent among first-generation students, said Pitre, just three percentage points below the rest of the student body.

“I try to stay away from friends sometimes because I have so many responsibilities [that] are more important,” Nguyen said. “But at the same time I feel like I’m missing out. As a student I’m here to learn and I can’t really party or have fun as most do … until I get what I need done.”

First-generation students must make a conscious effort to focus on their education said Grant Kollet, director of First Year Programs. For Nguyen, that meant choosing the University of Washington over nursing school in Oregon. While the value of education was instilled in her at a young age, she hopes that by staying local she’ll be able to mentor her siblings through their own college years.

“[First-generation students] are resilient,” said Kollet. “Let’s face it, for some students it’s more of a journey to get here compared to others … Because they could have taken a left turn in their life and college would no longer be an option. They made decisions in middle school and high school, with who they hung out with, their college counselors, etc. …They were intentional about wanting [this college experience].”

Reach reporter Celina Kareiva at lifestyles@dailyuw.com