Coping with a New Environment and New Educational System 

Being a first generation college student is hard. You enter an entire new world. A place nothing like home. For the first time you see diversity, something you have never experienced before. The people around you look at you funny because of how you dress or due to the color of your skin. For the first time you are out on your own learning how to navigate through an entire new environment and new education system, so fast pace that it seems merely impossible to keep up with. No one in your family has attended college so you are forced to seek guidance for school elsewhere or at times even experience failure in order to learn how to play in this new system and become successful. You are going to see an entire world you have never seen before all alone with no help from mom and dad because they will no longer be able to be there by your side and support you. You are out there on your own, you are responsible for your own success and finding the resources that will make the path to success more easy than difficult. 

There is help out there, but it is not going to come knocking at your door, so you have to make sure you go out and search for it yourself. Most of the times attending college can be a big financial burden for low income families. One solution to this obstacle is to apply to a wide range of scholarships. Believe me when I say that there is not anything much better than obtaining a scholarship that will cover your entire cost of attendance to any university of your choice. Applying for scholarships takes work, but it is not impossible.  

I encourage you all to make sure you get involved with extracurricular activities in order for colleges to take a closer look at your application because believe it or not it's not all about what grades you get, but also what type of activities you have done outside of school. Most colleges like candidates that are well rounded because it shows that you are able to navigate the real world and network with people because you have had some sort of experience with an extracurricular activity which more than likely taught you skills that enabled you to work with those around you. 

You are going to quickly realize that people all around you are going to place you under stereotypes because of how you look and because of how you dress. People are going to try to influence you to change and be like them, but you have to remember who you are and what things in your life have made you the person you are today. You are going to experience discrimination from individuals who think they are better than you. There are going to meet plenty of people here who look down upon you because of the place you come, but instead of letting it affect you use it as a motivation to prove people wrong. You got to where you are now because of all of your hard work, it was not easy and people do not recognize that. Do not let those who look down on you interrupt your on going success. 

Here are some scholarships that you can apply to that will help you:​

• Ronald McDonald Scholarship

• Regents Scholarships

• Other scholarships that pertain to your field of study interests.