esrosedotblog

I am the first member of my family to go to college.

And, what is more to go to a fine college that, while not in the Ivy League, is head and shoulders above most Ivy schools.

MIT! Yeah team.

It was not difficult for me. I think there were quotas for small towns although I am sure they would deny that.

Getting in was not the first problem of being first generation. Staying was a bitch.

I had to work hard to get minimum grades but I also worked hard at working in the dining halls and to get the loans I needed to stay there. Scholarships were out of my reach after the first term.

And I got through. And I did well especially with my peers at the non-academic stuff. I ran the entire student staff of the biggest dining hall and ran a large committee that put on the one white tie dance every year.

I am not bragging, I am just saying that college, for me, was a transformation more complete than just improving my social class status. I was vaulted into the meritocracy and did very well as a result.

I am still the only member of my generation to attend college. There were several who went to business school or other two year colleges.

In the next generation there are many who went on to college and university. It was a total leap for the family into a different world.

Labels: college, life, MIT