Research Blog #2:

I have decided to center my research on the effects of being a college student from a lower-class or being first generation. It is something that relates to me. I feel that when you do not really come from much, people are often pushed to focus achieving academic success above all other things. Often, as first generation or poorer students, we are told that only way we can make it in and post college is with brains. I want to emphasize how the lack of socialization can hinder post-graduation and academics.


I found a film centered on what discrimination does to students. Social class division might not be a direct and brutal form of discrimination but it is discrimination among the classes nonetheless. The film is called "Frontline: A Class Divided."



http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3838816.pdf?acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2112665.pdf?&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true

I learned that socialization is important but harder for first generation college students to do. It is not because they are not sociable but because they have very little to share. Therefore it is important to create a sense of community that appeals to their interests and backgrounds. I also came to the realization that the EOF program at universities like Rutgers gives these students a sense of belonging and community. In a way they are no longer aloof. However class differences creates an invisible boundary among students and grades for kids without a support system tend to be bad.

Resarch Blog #1: Topic 1

Is college really a corporate machine taking advantage of uninformed students? What is this corporate machine doing to the "American Dream"? Is college really conditioning society for a new economic system?

My mother came to this country in the 1993, in pursuit of opportunity and the American Dream. Unfortunately, she pursuit was cut short when she had me and assumed the role of a mother. She abandoned her own dreams that one day her child would pick up where she left off. Being a first generation college student from a single parent home is not always the easiest. I am also not heavily informed about the system. I'm learning as I go along, like other students like me. I like to call kids like me the "trial-and-error" children. Being the oldest, parents use us to test our parenting skills, the educational system uses us to test out their learning plans, and so forth. So I want to know how college is for the trail and error children. Are we really being taken advantage of? And secondly, am I going to live up to my mother's standard of the "American Dream?"