Being a first-generation college student comes with lots of triumphs and obstacles. First-generation college students are known as the first people in their immediate family (mom, dad, grandma and grandpa) to attend college. Being the first in your family to attend college can be a big achievement for not only yourself but for your family.

While being the first in your family to attend college can be an immense achievement, they deal with many challenges not all college students have to deal with. Any regular college student has questions that arise when they leave to attend college. If they are the first in their family to go, they may have more questions and they are not able to easily contact someone who would have an answer for all of their questions.

They also face many physiological challenges while being the first to attend college. Many, but not all of the first-generation college students, have family jobs that are passed down from generations. When they break from the chain, they may experience a sense of identity loss because they are not following their previous generations’ roles, and if they are not prepared for the loss, they can develop two different types of personalities: one for home and one for college.

Despite these challenges, being a first-generation college student is a good thing for many families. Most are attending to help their families and to better themselves by getting a higher paying job. Even though students may feel they are hurting their families by leaving for such long amounts of time and feel guilty for attending college, the pros of being a first-generation college student will eventually outweigh the cons.