by FGLI Vanderbilt | Nov 23, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Stanley Zhao, Class of 2024 The relationship with my identity as both a first-generation student and a low-income student is a complicated one. In elementary school and middle school, income was never a concept that concerned 12-year-old naive Stanley who had no...
by FGLI Vanderbilt | Nov 23, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Jane Yao, Class of 2021 Being part of the FGLI community means persevering in the face of adversity and choosing resilient optimism even when the odds are against you. Growing up in a low-income immigrant family, I was encouraged to dream big and work hard to pursue...
by FGLI Vanderbilt | Oct 10, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Lia Okenkova, Class of 2023 Being FGLI to me means feeling a deep sense of pride for braving the journey it took to get here, often alone, often filled with doubt. However, it’s also recognizing how difficult it was for my parents, who came to this country in...
by FGLI Vanderbilt | Oct 10, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Maeva Makendi, Class of 2021 Being first-gen/low-income means overcoming insurmountable odds. I was born in Cameroon and moved to the United States when I was 8 years. In all those years my family’s socioeconomic status has ranged from poor to working class....
by FGLI Vanderbilt | Oct 10, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Sung Jin Lee, Class of 2022 I came to the states when I was three from South Korea. My dad started a two-year college and got an associate’s degree in the 90s, but his job now does not really reflect the education that he had in Korea. He had to pay his way...
by FGLI Vanderbilt | Oct 10, 2020 | Faces of FGLI
Toby Irenshtain, Class of 2021 Being first-generation means being confused. It means not knowing what you don’t know, not knowing who to ask, and feeling underrepresented in the general student body. Oftentimes, this identity manifests in feelings of not...
