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Abstract: Marissa Brown grew up in Arizona and Nevada for most of her youth in a very close knit family of Mexican American descent. Although her father was born in the United States, and her mother had lived in the country for several decades, no one in her immediate family attended college; this makes her a first generation college student. Both of her parents worked in blue collage jobs. Marissa's father served in the air force and drove a gasoline truck; her mother worked for a garment company.
Marissa excelled during her high school career, but the idea of college was never really forced upon her by her high school teachers and counselors, nor her parents. Her parents were leery of her decision to attend college, but they supported her as best as they could, financially and emotionally. They made her take several classes at the local college, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, as well as making her work to save as much money as possible before they would allow her to transfer to the school she truly wished to attend, University of Nevada at Reno.
Wile Marissa's parents supported her as well as they could, she was forced to take out over then thousand dollars in student loans, eventually paying them back by making minimum payments over then years. Marissa ultimately decided she wanted to go into the field of nursing. Her hard work in and out of school paid off when she was accepted to nursing school. Marissa credits her success to her support and love from her family, her personal dedication and drive, and her faith in God.
Keywords: Mexican American, first generation, blue collar, student loans, faith |
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