KUT’s been reblogging a lot from The Months Between. It’s a reporting project that followed three students from high school graduation through the summer to their first week of college.
All three are the first in their families to attend college. They faced various obstacles — finances, transportation, citizenship — to get there.
The project culminates this week, and you can visit here and here to see photos, listen to the stories and hear from the students in their own words.
A few days before classes started at ACC, Mauricio reemerged to make sure everything was in order before he starts. His entire life has been consumed by work.
He qualified for ACC’s Free Books program, which is one less thing he needs to worry about financially.
His Breakthrough counselor, Daniel, met him at ACC so he could stay on top of him and his schedule this semester.
Mauricio’s father doesn’t live in Austin, and his mother is getting remarried. Mauricio says she’s been too busy planning the wedding and buying a new house to help him with the college enrollment process.
Right now, he’s working four to five days a week. The question is, how he manages three classes with his busy work schedule.
Another wrinkle in Joseph’s summer plans was that he got into a minor accident on his motorcycle. His parents were concerned about his safety and scraped together enough money to buy him a used car. Joseph had to get his driver’s license so he can get himself to class everyday.
Even getting to the DMV to take his driver’s test was an obstacle. Neither of his parents have licenses to drive him. KUT photographer, Miguel Gutierrez Jr., ended up taking him to the DMV so he could get his license and snapped these photos.
Now that Erika has chosen a college to attend this fall, she has A LOT to do before orientation on August 28th. Here’s just a few of the things on her list.
Today is Joseph’s last day at his internship with Luminex, a biotechnology company. They manufacture and market technology for biological testing. Joseph started the summer wanting to pursue a degree in biology, but now he’s also considering a Master’s in Business Administration down the road.
All of the money he made at this job will go toward paying for school, including books and other supplies. According to his budget, that’s about $2,400.
It’s been nearly a month since I’ve heard from Mauricio, which is not entirely surprising. Right now, his job as a bell hop at some downtown hotels is his first priority. He works long shifts that last into the night.
His counselor, Daniel, is having a tough time tracking him down, too. Mauricio registered for classes at Austin Community College this fall, but Daniel has taken the reins to make sure Mauricio is ready to start those classes.
Daniel worked directly with ACC counselors to make sure Mauricio’s financial aid bill was processed. He also made sure Mauricio qualifies for free textbooks. But now he’s having trouble contacting Mauricio to schedule a time to actually go pick up those books. It’s unclear if Mauricio purchased a car yet or if he’s still relying on friends and family to get around.
This doesn’t mean Mauricio won’t make it to class this fall, but it’s hard to see how he’d have the time or the will to make sure he’s ready for the first day of classes without Breakthrough’s help.
Daniel has really been a major advocate throughout this entire process. He says the lack of communication often happens when students have other responsibilities, like work or childcare, and can’t focus entirely on preparing for school. Plus, first generation college students often lack support at home so they can be completely unaware of what they need to do.
One thing Joseph, Erika and Mauricio have in common is that their parents are barely involved in their journeys to college. They say their parents want them to go to college, but all three of these students are making major decisions on their own which makes the whole process more daunting for all of them.
