Payton Gonzales (B.S., ’20) is a first-generation student pursuing his master’s degree in the Department of Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University. Gonzales advises first-generation students to have a vision of their college path and the rest will follow.
What does it mean to be a first-generation student?
Being a first-generation student, there is a certain level of difficulty you face with it, because of the lack of networking that exists for the information you need to succeed. Full stop, that’s kind of what my experience was.
At the same time, when I think back and look at those early years of just not having anyone to go to for questions about higher education in general, I found through those struggles, it made me more of a learner, more of a college student. Although I didn’t necessarily want to face those difficulties, like not having that network of information from family members, part of me almost says I wouldn’t change it because it really made me feel like I belonged here.
What would you tell other first-generation students? What advice would you share?
From the heart: have a vision, and know where you’re going. It can be so hard to make the choices you need to succeed, but if you start early, and really have a vision; knowing where you’re going after college, then the entire college experience is so much more rewarding and fulfilling.
I would really emphasize that, know where you’re trying to go. If you know where you’re going, academically you can become a force, because you’re driven, you have a place that you’re trying to get to.
What comes to mind when you hear the words “first-generation student?”
When I hear the words “first-generation college student,” what comes to my mind is that I am one, and I’m filled with gratitude. I think about where my family has come from, both on my mom’s and my dad’s side, just the fact that we made it. People in my family finally got to go to college. I hear it and I think “Yeah, that’s awesome!” I remember there were times when even just having to file taxes to get FAFSA grant aid, I felt like I had no experience. I remember going through that and being so panicked about finishing and figuring it out. Finishing was like, “Whew.”
You don’t know how much you can take until you get there, and you have to get back up. I think about that a lot, that makes it a lot easier to justify. The trials and tribulations you face as a first-generation college student set the tone for what you’re able to overcome in your future and having that with you is a gift.
The Department of Design and Merchandising is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
