{"id":26340,"date":"2025-12-10T12:36:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=26340"},"modified":"2025-12-11T11:17:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:17:37","slug":"attending-college-is-a-milestone-in-my-life","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/10\/attending-college-is-a-milestone-in-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Attending college is a milestone in my life\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

First-gen Clarkies share their stories with high-schoolers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Navigating college as a first-year student living away from home can be overwhelming \u2014 especially if you\u2019re also a first-generation student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-gen students are those whose parents or guardians did not complete a bachelor\u2019s degree. About one in five Clarkies<\/a> identify as part of this cohort \u2014 including me. First-gen students must overcome obstacles to find their path in college, often without guidance and support from parents and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First-Gen Working Group recently held a panel event to help local high-schoolers from college-access programs, including Dynamy John S. Laws Youth Academy and <\/a>Bruce Wells Scholars Upward Bound, learn more about the experiences of first-gen students at Clark. I spoke on the panel representing the Class of 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Naomi Ashley, assistant director of programming and first-generation student support, AK Aguilar-Martinez \u201928, Jacob LeBrun \u201928, Rukhshona Marufova \u201929, Ariel Roriguez \u201926, and Leysha Urena \u201926. Photo by Natalie Hoang \u201925, MBA \u201926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Rukhshona Marufova \u201929, center. Photo by Natalie Hoang \u201925, MBA \u201926 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

My experience as a first-gen student started back in 2016 when my family immigrated to America from Uzbekistan. I am the oldest child and the first and only one to speak English in my family, meaning I carry the responsibility of translating everything that my parents don\u2019t understand. Attending college is a milestone in my life and neither of my parents have context or personal experience to guide me. This meant that I had to figure out everything about the application and financial aid process on my own \u2014 and still have a lot to navigate ahead of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n