Storytime: A First-Gen Parent and a Second-Gen College Student Journey

My oldest is officially a senior and starting her second year as a Running Start student at our local community college.

While she’s taken college courses before, this is her first term attending classes on campus. After her first day, she came home and asked me something that really made me think:

"Mom, what do you think about free community college, and do you think more people would go to college if it were free?"

The topic of free community college isn't new to me, especially in my profession. But, something about my kid asking me made me pause. I turned the question back to her and asked if she thought her peers would attend college if cost weren’t a barrier. Her response: "I think a lot of them would."

This led to a great conversation about financial aid. I shared my experiences of accessing financial aid as a college student as well as my experiences from going to high schools, libraries, and community centers to help students complete their financial aid applications. I could see her connecting the dots, realizing how important it is to raise awareness about financial aid.

Then she hit me with another reflection: "There wasn't a lot of black or brown students. It shocked me because our high school is so diverse."

This comment caught me off guard. When our kids were young, we intentionally moved to a diverse area so they wouldn’t be the only brown kids—and it worked. They grew up surrounded by peers who looked like them. But now, on her first day on a college campus, she noticed a lack of diversity.

I explained that some students take classes online or at different times due to work and life commitments. But when she said she was hoping to see "another Islander," I paused. I wasn’t quite ready to dive into the conversation about NHPI students having the lowest college enrollment rates.

For now, I hope the next few days show her the broader diversity community colleges offer.

Long story short: the work I do in higher ed is becoming more personal by the day.

#DualEnrollment #RunningStart #HigherEd #CommunityCollege #NHPI #EquityInEducation #FinancialAid #RepresentationMatters