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Higher education had a positive impact on my life.  Along the way I learned a lot about myself and changed as a person during the process.  I also came to realize that I had to learn and understand concepts and material in a way that was unfamiliar to me.  Although, this particular experience is one that I have had to accept and overcome during k-12, I think that being an adult and paying for my education made me realize how unaware instructors were of how culture and experience impact students learning.  Being able to relate to material and how it is presented is different for different students.  I believe when students can relate they stay engaged and they learn more.  In my experience I only learned what was important to the instructor not necessarily what was important to the students. As a result, this experience has made me cognizant of the type of instructor I want to be.

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Horses are an expensive luxury. I learned in high school that if I wanted horses as an adult I would need a good income. So I made that my goal. I managed to qualify for college, a Pell Grant, and several scholarships. Once I started on the road to a degree I was on my own to figure out the details of succeeding. I learned to pace myself. I learned to put everything aside sometimes and just focus on one thing until its done. I learned to balance my life. I started to go with my values, not others expectations of me. I really left school behind me as soon as a graduated. Life pressures pulled me forward for many years. At some point about ten years after I graduated I could see better the trajectory of my life and the value of my college degree. It had made all the difference for me. Self confidence, steady income, intellectual challenge, and an opportunity to feel valuable to my community. I never did get back into horses, but I have had a similar experience with dogs. Horses, dogs, and even cats have always been my friends and mentors. I will always thank horses for getting me motivated to complete my engineering degree.

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Although I'm a first generation college graduate, higher education was definitely expected of me from a very young age. College was seen as the quintessential key to get high-paying, white collar jobs.

Because of this view, I studied a degree with highly marketable skills (economics undergrad and business grad). While this was great for getting a good job, at times, I wish I would've pursued something I was truly passionate in, but less marketable in the private sector.

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A First Generation Student's College Experience

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A First Generation Student's College Experience

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I grew up in an economically and socially divided suburb located just west of Detroit.

The rich kids at my high school had dads who were automotive engineers, executives or high ranking factory supervisors. The rest of  us had dads who were assembly line works, construction workers or retail employees.

Though the two populations lived in different neighborhoods, we all attended the same high school.

While the well to do students went away to college, I along with a few other locals attended a commuter state school in Detroit.

I thought the purpose of college was to learn the knowledge and skills to be a research scientist in Marine Biology.

For four years I drove daily to school and back. I enjoyed my studies but seldom took part in school clubs or events because as a commuter I had little contact those who lived on campus and besides I had to get home, eat and go to work part-time to pay my quarterly tuition. My experience was the same as that of thousands of other first generation students who attended the same university but came from different communities surrounding Detroit.

During the holidays and summer breaks I would occasionally run into classmates who went away to college.  Their life experiences at school were not mine.

It was not until I went out of state for graduate studies that I discovered the richness of studies and student life that I missed during my undergraduate years.

Gary Prehn

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I wanted to ride the whales at Sea World! It seemed like something right up my alley, since I'm crazy and I was on the diving team.  So when I went to college as a marine biology major, I did not realize how much math and chemistry you need to  graduate with that major. It didn't take long for me to change majors after almost failing several basic math and science classes. So that was the first bad experience.
The second bad experience was the adapted P.E. guru who was supposed to be all knowing but was a total stick in the mud, doing everything by the book and leaving all the fun out of class; the exact opposite of me. Children didn't like him, he was scary and power hungry, and he did everything to bring me down. But I ended up being a total studd, proving that he was just too old and crumudgeony and needed to retire. Then in grad school, all the professors were colorful and happy, just like I knew they were supposed to be! I loved them and they have helped me a lot.
The best experience that I have had with higher ED is seeing a solid community of people who love my profession. They support each other, work together well, they are all friends, and it makes me want to be a part of that life.
So here I am, trying to make that dream a reality.

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In my teen years I did not see the value in higher education. My parents were working class folks and my dad made it clear that: "If you want to go to college, you're paying for it." So, college wasn't a huge dream of mine. I did, however, have some positive influences regarding higher education but, at that time, it wasn't for me. It wasn't until I had some real life experiences with employment and after the birth of my son, at a young age, did I start seeing the value and necessity of earning a degree. And it wasn't until I really took taking classes and actually learning seriously, that I really understood the personal growth that was possible.
I started from the bottom. I had earned my GED when I was a teenager but when I wanted to start at community college, I had to take many low level courses. This seemed daunting at the time and I took a two year break because I saw the long road ahead. But, eventually, I was back at it with new energy. I started by earning vocational certificates in Bookkeeping and Payroll. When I took a look at my transcripts I realized with just a few more classes, I could earn my AA, then I transferred to university and earned my BA within two years. I took a short 2 year break to pursue a position promotion and quickly realized I needed to go for my MBA. I earned that in the summer of 2020.
To me, higher education has been a journey. Not only did I earn those degrees but I found out who I am but what I'm capable of.
-N. Faust-Dean

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I dropped out of community college the first go 'round.  Fifteen years later, I took another crack at it and didn't stop until I had a teaching credential.  Six years after that, I went back for more and earned an MA.
I dropped out because I was working on the side and making enough money that I felt college was inconsequential and a waste of time.  When going back it was after the realization that continuing the job I knew and was good at would eventually ruin my body.  I needed something I could get better at as I got older.
That has been my mindset since reentry into college, to continually improve my knowledge and find better ways to disseminate that information.
This came at a cost, in leaving a stable decent-paying job to spend money on college and take a lower paying teaching salary. The negative financials were outstripped by the positive mental, emotional, and physical benefits, and eventually were followed by a higher salary with more time in the profession.
Higher education has helped form me through the introspection and effort needed for the task as much as the finished product.  What I mean is that something as trivial in our everyday pursuits as this stream-of-consciousness write is causing me to examine my past, practices, and how I can use the concept in my teaching.  Before coming back into the higher ed community, I would have brushed off a request such as this, filled it out as quick as possible, then forgotten it just as quick. Now I see everything as an educational experience.

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The Evolving Future: Ongoing Impact of Higher Education

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The Evolving Future: Ongoing Impact of Higher Education

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There is just so much to write.
I recall the wonder of perusing through the pages of the local community college course catalog.  Wow, right? In two years time, I could have a degree. One of these majors would be great: social work, or paralegal?

There was a one major issue: I never graduated high school. I needed to obtain a GED first, then take a bunch of assessments at the school just to see if I was capable of doing the work. What a mess. But, just looking at a book containing potential programs compelled me to take my first step.

This is the immediate impact that higher education had on my soul. It moved it to dance and to create a path, one step at a time. As with most things after enrollment in one's first college, everything occurs in steps: damned prerequisites and the fun classes seemed so far away.

I obviously kept pushing, like many of you, here. There was something on the other side of this higher education thing; I just haven't reached the hilltop yet. But I will and I hope to see you there, too, and we can look through another book and see where that may take us. 😃💙 Robb

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As a first generation college student, attending to a four year directly following high school was daunting. I had difficulty navigating the application and financial aid process. Thankfully, my public high school had a career & college counselor on site who helped me. Without such help, I don't think I would have been able to attend.

My mother cleaned houses and my father was a car mechanic. Both of my parents thought my best next steps should be pursuing a trade. They were skeptical that the steep cost of college would really lead to a higher paying job.

It was only because of robust grants, scholarships, and federally subsidized loans that I was able to attend. I often wonder if I would have been able to attend if I had graduated more recently as the costs of increased dramatically and aid decreased in kind.

Upward mobility was only part of the reason I attended a four-year university. I craved a community of discourse though I didn't know how to name that at the time. I wanted to think about and discuss big ideas. I wanted to read in community with others, and write to express what meaning I was making of the world. In many ways, I found this at the university I attended. However, at first it was somewhat difficult as my class sizes at times were over 500 students.

One of the most striking unanticipated results was how much attainment of higher education isolated me from my working class family. My family could not understand my new experiences (or new ideas), and it made it increasingly difficult to relate to each other.

Still, education changed my life beyond measure. I had access to ideas, specialized training, relationships and deeply profound opportunities to change the way I saw and experienced the world. It's difficult still to fully articulate the impact entering a community of scholars had on my mind, my heart and sense of purpose in the world. Did I also transgress my station and move from working class to middle class? Yes. To consider the impact through economic means seems reductive as I often feel my education shifted my core. It's almost as if my education gave me glasses that sharpened and brought into focus my experiences and interactions. Education is the lens through which I see the world.