| |
Abstract: College is a major undertaking for any person, but it is a particularly great accomplishment for a first generation college student. Many books and articles have been written about this large and growing group of students and the specific problems they face. I interviewed one of the millions of first-generation college students, Professor Ronald Ahnen, about his life and thoughts on the college experience. The definition of a first generation college student is not agreed upon by everyone, but it is often defined as a person who is in the first generation in their immediate family to attend college in the United States. This means that though siblings of a first generation college student may have attended college in the United States, their parents and grandparents did not. Some believe that the children of people who attended but did not graduate from college are also first generation college students. This debate is not important in Ahnen’s case because neither of his parents attended any college.
Though many first generation college students are immigrants or the children of immigrants, there are also many, including Ahnen, whose parents were born in the United States. First-generation college students can be found in nearly every career, and some now teach college themselves, including Ahnenn. Ahnen currently teaches in the politics department at Saint Marys College of California. He had several advantages which many first-generation college students do not have. However, his story is very inspiring and filled with adventure and personal transformation.
Keywords: graduate school, professor, politics, advantages
|
|
