{"id":3710,"date":"2009-06-23T15:26:32","date_gmt":"2009-06-23T15:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=3710"},"modified":"2019-07-18T12:56:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T16:56:04","slug":"the-face-of-first-gen-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/the-face-of-first-gen-students\/","title":{"rendered":"The Face of First Gen Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you grew up in a small town, you understand how easy it is to believe your choices are limited. Some stay content by gazing up at the stars-but others reach up and grab one.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Sheridan is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/services\/s\/first-generation-program\/\">first-generation college student<\/a>; neither of her parents had the opportunity to obtain a degree. But she was brave, leaving the comfort and security of her rural hometown in Texas to attend UCF&#8217;s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Moving here was hard enough, but more challenges arose as early as day one-even before classes started.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t understand the enrollment process; that I needed to take the SAT or that I needed to file for financial aid, or anything,&#8221; Rebecca remembers. &#8220;I missed deadlines and opportunities because I didn&#8217;t know who or where to go to.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The usual challenges all freshmen face are particularly daunting for first-generation students like Rebecca. Without the experience of parents to rely on, everything from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/admissions\/\">college admissions process<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/registrar.ucf.edu\">registering<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/finaid.ucf.edu\">figuring out funding<\/a> is unfamiliar and formidable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re the first in your family to attend college you feel different,&#8221; said Rebecca. &#8220;It was harder to fit in with everyone else. It&#8217;s all very intimidating.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And then she finally caught a break: She received the <a href=\"https:\/\/finaid.ucf.edu\/types-of-aid\/first-gen\/\">First Generation in College Scholarship<\/a>. &#8220;It was a wonderful surprise and made me realize that there were people out there who really wanted me to succeed and who knew I needed help,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It gave me the hope I needed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Buoyed by news of the award, Rebecca declared a double major in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/event-management-bs\/\">Event<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/hospitality-management-bs\/\">Hospitality Management<\/a> and is determined to take advantage of the opportunity this scholarship provides.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;UCF has opened my eyes and ears to what&#8217;s possible for my life,&#8221; said Rebecca. &#8220;I know I can go wherever I want in the world because of UCF and this scholarship.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you grew up in a small town, you understand how easy it is to believe your choices are limited. Some stay content by gazing up at the stars-but others reach up and grab one. Rebecca Sheridan is a first-generation college student; neither of her parents had the opportunity to obtain a degree. But she was brave, leaving the comfort&hellip;","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15,4068,4163],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-3710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colleges","tag-hospitality-management","tag-rosen-college-of-hospitality-management","tag-scholarships"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Face of First Gen Students | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you grew up in a small town, you understand how easy it is to believe your choices are limited. Some stay content by gazing up at the stars-but others\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/the-face-of-first-gen-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Face of First Gen Students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you grew up in a small town, you understand how easy it is to believe your choices are limited. 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