If you grew up with poor immigrant parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor Eastern European immigrant parents here, no money and no guy English when we arrived (over 3 decades ago now). They did not, however, tell me to do what I loved - they insisted I go to college and get into a profession that made money. But how? That part was up to me. My parents are loving and supportive but at that time they were just trying to survive in a new country and pay the bills. They didn’t understand the process and had no time to figure it out.

I was on my own in terms of grades, extracurriculars, figuring out how to apply for college, financial aid, etc. I went to a local state school, lived at home, took 15 credits a semester, worked 20 hours a week as a receptionist, had no car as I couldn’t afford one so spent two hours each day on the bus. No social life, no parties, and definitely not the typical college experience.

I have a pretty decent job that pays well and a nice life. I am thankful. It has been a grind though - doing it with no guidance and no connections.

Sorry for the typos!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

Huh? You’ve never heard of West Indian?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

WTF?? West Indians mean Caribbean people. It's the same thing. How have you never heard of that???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor Eastern European immigrant parents here, no money and no guy English when we arrived (over 3 decades ago now). They did not, however, tell me to do what I loved - they insisted I go to college and get into a profession that made money. But how? That part was up to me. My parents are loving and supportive but at that time they were just trying to survive in a new country and pay the bills. They didn’t understand the process and had no time to figure it out.

I was on my own in terms of grades, extracurriculars, figuring out how to apply for college, financial aid, etc. I went to a local state school, lived at home, took 15 credits a semester, worked 20 hours a week as a receptionist, had no car as I couldn’t afford one so spent two hours each day on the bus. No social life, no parties, and definitely not the typical college experience.

I have a pretty decent job that pays well and a nice life. I am thankful. It has been a grind though - doing it with no guidance and no connections.

First gen SE Asian and this is similar to my upbringing. My parents were extremely pragmatic and encouraged me to focus first on building a good career with solid earning potential, then focus on doing things that were probably more fulfilling but less lucrative. I know there are a lot of people who think that sounds like a soulless life, but it worked. I have the career and the financial freedom to do what I want. I'm not swimming in debt. It's a good way to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

Google is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

Google is your friend.

Yes, when you have a question like this, Google. Your tone comes off as very rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

Truly the dumbest comment I’ve ever read on DCUM. You’re an idiot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another poor Asian immigrant kid. I had to translate for my parents everywhere, make phone calls for them and do all the paperwork. I still do this many decades later. I often wonder how they survived in this country. They seem so lost.

I absolutely hated being poor. My parents didn’t help me navigate anything. I wrote a pretty good essay about being poor and my dreams and it won me a bunch of scholarships. I went to college on a full ride but still took out loans so I could send my parents money to help pay their bills. I always had a job.

One thing that I notice that is different in Hispanic households is that the students and families may not try to go away for college. I had one coworker who was bright and taking forever to finish college. She lived at home with her mom and boyfriend and worked full time to pay bills. She must have been 27 or 28. If she had gone to a regular 4 year college, she would have qualified for financial aid and could have finished in 4 years instead of not being finished in 10. She also said she earned too much to get financial aid. I think it was because she went to school part time and not full time but I didn’t say anything.

Our Hispanic housekeeper has some amazing bright children. I am rooting for them. I know they stress about college costs. I had 100k in debt by the time I finished grad school. I had a high income that I was able to pay it off quickly.

I'm Hispanic and this is very true in most hispanic communities. Kids attend college part-time and work at the same time. College cost and huge loans are a very scary thing. I think most think if you can't "afford" it then it's impossible. They really don't understand school debt is a bit different and actually possible.

My father paid for my Community College and then said sorry honey I don't have more money for your University. A few years later I applied to George Mason, got in and paid all of it myself. With loans of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poor Asian immigrant kid. I had to translate for my parents everywhere, make phone calls for them and do all the paperwork. I still do this many decades later. I often wonder how they survived in this country. They seem so lost.

I absolutely hated being poor. My parents didn’t help me navigate anything. I wrote a pretty good essay about being poor and my dreams and it won me a bunch of scholarships. I went to college on a full ride but still took out loans so I could send my parents money to help pay their bills. I always had a job.

One thing that I notice that is different in Hispanic households is that the students and families may not try to go away for college. I had one coworker who was bright and taking forever to finish college. She lived at home with her mom and boyfriend and worked full time to pay bills. She must have been 27 or 28. If she had gone to a regular 4 year college, she would have qualified for financial aid and could have finished in 4 years instead of not being finished in 10. She also said she earned too much to get financial aid. I think it was because she went to school part time and not full time but I didn’t say anything.

Our Hispanic housekeeper has some amazing bright children. I am rooting for them. I know they stress about college costs. I had 100k in debt by the time I finished grad school. I had a high income that I was able to pay it off quickly.

I'm Hispanic and this is very true in most hispanic communities. Kids attend college part-time and work at the same time. College cost and huge loans are a very scary thing. I think most think if you can't "afford" it then it's impossible. They really don't understand school debt is a bit different and actually possible.

My father paid for my Community College and then said sorry honey I don't have more money for your University. A few years later I applied to George Mason, got in and paid all of it myself. With loans of course.

I am the OP and same here. I went to CC paid for by my parents back when each credit was much cheaper than it is now. Many latinos I went to CC with dropped out or didn't go to class and didn't take it seriously. Graduating took longer for me because I couldn't decide what to major in and again no guidance by any family. I just wanted to graduate and get a bachelor's and major in English because I loved reading and writing. Yes, now I know it's a bad thing but my parents supported and said I should study what I loved. And yes this is the bad advice Hispanic parents who are blue collar and who don't speak English give to their minority already poor kids without some trust fund or extra money to lay back on when they get a non stem degree. I didn't major just in English though but also Economics. I wanted to go to law school but unfortunately bad luck again came my way and I graduated in 2010 and I wanted to get a job before applying to law school to help myself but nobody wanted me so I fell back on retail. Now trying to get into tech and work for a government contractor. Wondering if it's worth it now when I'm older to go back for a master's in something or an actual stem degree.

[Anonymous]

I am a poor immigrant parent but not Latina.
I am trying to read up as much as I can on college etc
However my child doesn’t seem too motivated
I try to tell him that as long as he doesn’t outright hate coding he should pursue it as his career
He doesn’t seem to be passionate about anything but I hope he has time to grow and change

[Anonymous]

I’m Latina and grew up with single immigrant mother. I didn’t know we were poor until I was older. My mom always worked 2 shifts and bought me everything I wanted. She owned our house but we had several tenants that were related to us. She did encourage college but didn’t push too hard. I had a boyfriend in high school and she would just tell me to get school out of the way before having kids. I didn’t listen and ended up getting pregnant young. I went to college so that I could get a job that would pay enough to not have to rely on anyone else for financial support. I went to community college first and then transferred to a university. It took a while for me to get through community college but once I transferred to a university I completed my degree 1.5 yes. I paid for everything myself. I have a bachelors degree. I am almost fluent in Spanish. I was better before but it is hard when you don’t speak it or hear it regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poor Asian immigrant kid. I had to translate for my parents everywhere, make phone calls for them and do all the paperwork. I still do this many decades later. I often wonder how they survived in this country. They seem so lost.

I absolutely hated being poor. My parents didn’t help me navigate anything. I wrote a pretty good essay about being poor and my dreams and it won me a bunch of scholarships. I went to college on a full ride but still took out loans so I could send my parents money to help pay their bills. I always had a job.

One thing that I notice that is different in Hispanic households is that the students and families may not try to go away for college. I had one coworker who was bright and taking forever to finish college. She lived at home with her mom and boyfriend and worked full time to pay bills. She must have been 27 or 28. If she had gone to a regular 4 year college, she would have qualified for financial aid and could have finished in 4 years instead of not being finished in 10. She also said she earned too much to get financial aid. I think it was because she went to school part time and not full time but I didn’t say anything.

Our Hispanic housekeeper has some amazing bright children. I am rooting for them. I know they stress about college costs. I had 100k in debt by the time I finished grad school. I had a high income that I was able to pay it off quickly.

I'm Hispanic and this is very true in most hispanic communities. Kids attend college part-time and work at the same time. College cost and huge loans are a very scary thing. I think most think if you can't "afford" it then it's impossible. They really don't understand school debt is a bit different and actually possible.

My father paid for my Community College and then said sorry honey I don't have more money for your University. A few years later I applied to George Mason, got in and paid all of it myself. With loans of course.

Hispanic families may not be familiar with how financial aid works. If you are low income, tuition is often free. You could take out loans for room and board and your opportunities after college will be far greater than if you go to community college and a local public school. If you go to college part time, I don’t think you qualify for the same financial aid as you would if you went away to college full time.

DH did the ROTC program for college and went to med school on a military scholarship. You obviously needed the grades to get into med school but there are so many opportunities out there if you are a strong student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another poor Asian immigrant kid. I had to translate for my parents everywhere, make phone calls for them and do all the paperwork. I still do this many decades later. I often wonder how they survived in this country. They seem so lost.

I absolutely hated being poor. My parents didn’t help me navigate anything. I wrote a pretty good essay about being poor and my dreams and it won me a bunch of scholarships. I went to college on a full ride but still took out loans so I could send my parents money to help pay their bills. I always had a job.

One thing that I notice that is different in Hispanic households is that the students and families may not try to go away for college. I had one coworker who was bright and taking forever to finish college. She lived at home with her mom and boyfriend and worked full time to pay bills. She must have been 27 or 28. If she had gone to a regular 4 year college, she would have qualified for financial aid and could have finished in 4 years instead of not being finished in 10. She also said she earned too much to get financial aid. I think it was because she went to school part time and not full time but I didn’t say anything.

Our Hispanic housekeeper has some amazing bright children. I am rooting for them. I know they stress about college costs. I had 100k in debt by the time I finished grad school. I had a high income that I was able to pay it off quickly.

I'm Hispanic and this is very true in most hispanic communities. Kids attend college part-time and work at the same time. College cost and huge loans are a very scary thing. I think most think if you can't "afford" it then it's impossible. They really don't understand school debt is a bit different and actually possible.

My father paid for my Community College and then said sorry honey I don't have more money for your University. A few years later I applied to George Mason, got in and paid all of it myself. With loans of course.

Hispanic families may not be familiar with how financial aid works. If you are low income, tuition is often free. You could take out loans for room and board and your opportunities after college will be far greater than if you go to community college and a local public school. If you go to college part time, I don’t think you qualify for the same financial aid as you would if you went away to college full time.

DH did the ROTC program for college and went to med school on a military scholarship. You obviously needed the grades to get into med school but there are so many opportunities out there if you are a strong student.

Since there are more Latinos now and stem is harped on to gen z and younger millennials there is more of a chance that they know how financial aid works now. Back then I had dial up and my parents didnt know how to use a computer. Now if I had had a competent advisor at NOVA and I went thru maybe 5 of them they would have let me know that when I didn't qualify for financial aid as a cc student studying full time I would have qualified as a full time student at a four year. Nobody said anything to me. That is why I am extremely blunt and direct with people and I will let you know what I think. I wish more people were that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm west Indian and this is something I've always wondered. Immigrants from Africa, Middle Eastern, Asian push college especially STEM for their children.

When it comes to women studying stem it's mainly the women from countries that dont have much opportunities for women. Think arab, african, middle east, indian except latin america.

There was even a study showing that the less opportunities a girl has the more she is likely to study STEM except for Latin American women. I would like to know the history of education in Latin American nations to understand this. Even Chile which is a homogenous nation and is nowhere near the top at education.

My friend is a professor and he told me that Latin American parents tend to push labour but college will always be seen a superior in this nation.

I've wondered about this.

What is an “West Indian”? Is this a new thing?

oh dear...we've been around for ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a poor immigrant parent but not Latina.
I am trying to read up as much as I can on college etc
However my child doesn’t seem too motivated
I try to tell him that as long as he doesn’t outright hate coding he should pursue it as his career
He doesn’t seem to be passionate about anything but I hope he has time to grow and change

It has to start with motivation of child. If child is not a good student, it is game over before it even begins.