The days you think you're done with are never done with you.
Some University of Pennsylvania alumni still recall the travails of being the first in their families to graduate from college.
After reading the first story in a series by the Inquirer and Daily News earlier this month that showed how first-generation Penn students feel both uneasy among their privileged peers, and distanced from their families as they begin their college careers, several alumni wrote to say the article resonated with them.
"Unfortunately," David Benglian, one of the alumni said, "it reminded me of memories long ago put to bed."
Though they've gone on to lives of accomplishment _ thanks in no small part to the prestige and knowledge conferred by Penn itself _ the alumni remain ambivalent about the bumpy rocket ride of class mobility, which made them first feel like impostors at Penn, and then uncomfortable with their families afterward.
"Our alums tell our first-generation students the fish-out-of-water feeling doesn't end after they graduate Penn," said Valerie De Cruz, who oversees Penn's First Generation, Low Income Program, a student organization that works to create a sense of belonging within the university. "It has to do with entering cultures that are not yours to begin with."
Three readers agreed to share their first-gen stories.
