Students at Brownell Talbot are all facing pressure to succeed in academic and extracurricular activities. However, there’s a group of students on BT’s campus who experience an added layer of pressure that not all of their peers may know about. These are first-generation students whose parents immigrated to the United States before they were born. Many of these parents did not have the same opportunities as their first-generation children, and so the children can feel a greater demand to be successful in school, and those demands occasionally become feelings of guilt as well. They often feel that they have to stay rooted with their cultures but also making the American Dream come true not just for themselves but for their whole families. 

The experiences of all first generations are different, and not only negative. It’s important to make it clear that not all first-generation children feel this way about their parents’ high expectations. Some may find themselves proud for simply achieving academic success at a challenging school and getting the education their parents never had. Others may find themselves overwhelmed with the bar being set so high by their parents, trying to reach a goal that was set for them the minute they were born. However one might feel, every first-generation student has a beautiful story to tell that sheds light on a distinctive experience within the BT community. And since we have real life examples of this on campus we wanted to hear their voices, stories, and opinions. 

Rayaan Sattar, a junior here at BT, is a first-generation citizen whose parents both immigrated from Pakistan in 1997. His parents first arrived together in Michigan with the hopes of getting a better education for themselves. Later on, they grew with the ambition of having a family established here in America, and the traditional American dream was set. They hoped to offer a better future for their children with more opportunities than they had. With such a big step his parents took in their lives, it naturally grew into very high expectations for Rayaan and his brother, from hoping that he would become a doctor, to encouraging him to study for his ACT since eighth grade, to expecting that he not score lower than a 36 on that test. For some students these expectations might sound extreme, but for others like Rayaan it’s a normal part of life. “I’ve always gone along with the future my parents have wanted for me,” he said.”I thought a doctor would be fun. I enjoy helping people and its a good paying job.”

It’s a difficult position to be in, but at the end of the day as a first-generation child your biggest motivation is to always make your parents proud and give back for what they have done for you, even if it may be at the cost of what you want in life.

Another beautiful story unique to BT is that of a sophomore student who is a first-generation child of two parents coming from Peru; her name is Francesca Vidal. Her father was the one that started the establishment of her family here in America. He arrived with extended family, went through the process of becoming a citizen, and enrolled in the United States Army. He returned to Peru with the goal of bringing his wife and first born child to the U.S. After a couple of years he reached this goal and his next two daughters were born as U.S citizens.

Francesca’s parents arrived here only wanting the best for their children, as would any father or mother. As Francesca said, “Really the biggest hopes and expectations they have for me is living a good life, being happy and settling with a good career. For that I only want to give back to them.”

Our last story is that of Siri Doddapaneni, a first-generation Indian here as a freshman at BT. Her father immigrated to North Dakota to get his masters degree with high ambition and motivation. He had just $25.00 to his name, and he was sure that he would make it work, but his perseverance paid off. After going back to India he got married with Siri’s mother and they both agreed to seeing America as a brighter future for their family. After a couple of years of being settled they had Siri and her younger sister. Right away when they came of age, her parents began to enter them into extracurricular activities, having in mind that this would set their children up for success. Siri was entered into spelling competitions, public speaking events, science competitions, and many more activities at a young age. “When you’re younger, like in elementary school and even middle school, you get pushed very hard and the pressures on but my parents did this because all of this would help me in high school and even my future. I got provided with all of these resources and very naturally you start to have this hard working system built into you,” Siri said.

First generation parents will forever and only have good intentions at heart but at times it becomes overwhelming and one might even find themselves feeling guilty for that. Receiving these negative emotions put in the back of your head you have a little voice reminding you of everything your parents have done for their children.

There are these and many other stories to share, other cultures, and many other perspectives of being a first generation citizen and student. At BT we are fortunate to have students with families in places as diverse as Pakistan, China, Mexico, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Peru and many more locations all around the world. With so much diversity here it’s important to come together and celebrate these different cultures, which is why some students have started a new club here at BT called Cultural Club. The club is advised by Señora Navarro, and it meets during the regular club time on Day 5. If any students are interested in joining, or evening just dropping by, reach out to sophomore Frida Silva or junior Rayaan Sattar to find out more information.