{"id":5598,"date":"2024-02-05T12:51:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/?p=5598"},"modified":"2024-02-05T12:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:51:12","slug":"karolina-b-m-karolinas-first-gen-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/2024\/02\/05\/karolina-b-m-karolinas-first-gen-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Karolina B-M: Karolina\u2019s First-Gen Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a first-generation Latina student from the south side of Chicago and as a junior now I finally feel like I got the hang of things. If you are a first-generation Latino you can agree that the first semester is probably going to be the hardest emotionally; as it was for me being away from home and navigating university. But as time has gone by I\u2019ve learned to adapt and how to show up for myself and my family every day and here are some solid tips I can give to help adjust to this process. My mom loves to say \u201ctodo es un proceso\u201d and she\u2019s a hundred percent correct, everything is a process and you will come out on top!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Document your emotions, growth, wins, and losses\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

You will never be an undergrad in a new city or school again in your life! Document precious memories of the mundane that won\u2019t be mundane in five years. Journaling has helped me just let out my emotions that have been bottled up. I love also making monthly goals because if I write them down I feel more compelled to come back to them and make progress on what I said I would do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No te olvides de donde vienes\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget about where you come from means to me that you are grateful for where you started growing to be where you are today. I was one of the few people from my primarily hispanic and black high school that went out of state for school and I do wish that my community was able to receive the same opportunities I am being provided. I show up not just for myself but for all my friends and family who couldn\u2019t receive higher education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do not compare yourself\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It’s hard to do this, especially in such a competitive culture we\u2019re put in, but I watched a TikTok that put it in a great metaphor that I always think about. When you play Mario Kart and you\u2019re in 1st place you may focus on the side view that lets you know where everyone is and if they are catching up it takes away focus from your driving on the road and obstacles. Your focus on others is a huge disadvantage to your game aka your life and achievements. Especially when everyone comes from <\/span>very <\/b>different backgrounds and may have had a better starting point than you. Just try your best to do what’s best for you and you\u2019ll thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please feel free to reach out to me if you need any support or even to have a conversation at <\/span>kberm@bu.edu<\/span>!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a first-generation Latina student from the south side of Chicago and as a junior now I finally feel like I got the hang of things. If you are a first-generation Latino you can agree that the first semester is probably going to be the hardest emotionally; as it was for me being away … Continue reading Karolina B-M: Karolina\u2019s First-Gen Guide<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2018,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44628],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5599,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5598\/revisions\/5599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}