COLLEGE BOUND
Breanna Ruiz
First generation college student, that is who I am. That is my community, a place I take very seriously and feel passionate about. My education is placed very highly in my list of priorities. I have my goals and standards I maintain for myself. I am determined to exceed them. There are plenty of other people who are going through or have gone through my situation. I strongly believe teenagers do not attend college because there is a cycle of generations who haven't gone. The resources of the families and surroundings also take a toll.
I decided to become a member of this group. You must have the self motivation to want to succeed. The fire has to be lit and it needs to stay lit. I have dreams that require an education. I did not want to keep the cycle alive to pass on to my future generations. Often when kids do not know those who have gone to college, they repeat the cycle unaware of the bright future they could obtain. This has affected me both negatively and positively. I used to look at my situation through an aggressive attitude. I used to think I would never make it to college because I was too dumb to succeed. I learned that being negative would not get me far at all.
Definitely coming to HTH has opened many doors to the way I think. I am surrounded by so many resources, one being teachers who are passionate about their kids. It made me look at my situation positively. I saw that I have an opportunity to an ample amount of scholarships. I saw that I can create a path and new cycle for future generations. I saw I had a chance. As a first generation college student, I do face struggles. I may not know where to start. I may not know how I would afford to pay. But, I did something about it. I surrounded myself with people who were positive and they had a huge impact on me. Especially knowing two people who I admired that went through my similar situation and succeeded made me feel like I can achieve it too.
Being Mexican, there are stereotypes that I won’t make it to college. I have to fight to not be a statistic. Although the positive thing is they give scholarships for Latina women. I realized the power I could have with a good education on my shoulders.
In my community, you can see that a very common goal is to succeed in life. A majority of the people in my group come from homes where it is much harder to find support than in a home with several generations of college experience. Many houses in some situations, like mine, have parents who 1, never graduated and 2, have a G.E.D. That is why, this moment is far beyond important than anything else.
Breanna Ruiz
First generation college student, that is who I am. That is my community, a place I take very seriously and feel passionate about. My education is placed very highly in my list of priorities. I have my goals and standards I maintain for myself. I am determined to exceed them. There are plenty of other people who are going through or have gone through my situation. I strongly believe teenagers do not attend college because there is a cycle of generations who haven't gone. The resources of the families and surroundings also take a toll.
I decided to become a member of this group. You must have the self motivation to want to succeed. The fire has to be lit and it needs to stay lit. I have dreams that require an education. I did not want to keep the cycle alive to pass on to my future generations. Often when kids do not know those who have gone to college, they repeat the cycle unaware of the bright future they could obtain. This has affected me both negatively and positively. I used to look at my situation through an aggressive attitude. I used to think I would never make it to college because I was too dumb to succeed. I learned that being negative would not get me far at all.
Definitely coming to HTH has opened many doors to the way I think. I am surrounded by so many resources, one being teachers who are passionate about their kids. It made me look at my situation positively. I saw that I have an opportunity to an ample amount of scholarships. I saw that I can create a path and new cycle for future generations. I saw I had a chance. As a first generation college student, I do face struggles. I may not know where to start. I may not know how I would afford to pay. But, I did something about it. I surrounded myself with people who were positive and they had a huge impact on me. Especially knowing two people who I admired that went through my similar situation and succeeded made me feel like I can achieve it too.
Being Mexican, there are stereotypes that I won’t make it to college. I have to fight to not be a statistic. Although the positive thing is they give scholarships for Latina women. I realized the power I could have with a good education on my shoulders.
In my community, you can see that a very common goal is to succeed in life. A majority of the people in my group come from homes where it is much harder to find support than in a home with several generations of college experience. Many houses in some situations, like mine, have parents who 1, never graduated and 2, have a G.E.D. That is why, this moment is far beyond important than anything else.