Bittersweet

Abstract

Gabriela De La Torre is a first-generation college student at Cal State University, Los Angeles. Her work is a tribute to her mother who was a first-generation high-school graduate and single, working mom. De La Torre reflects on what it means to be a first-generation student and seeks to better clarify the term through her own perspective. She shares how her new understanding of common challenges faced by first-generation students has helped her to recognize and voice underlying themes in her own life that detrimentally impacted her mental well being. Through her mother’s narrative, she lays a foundation of love and gratitude that gave her the strength to rise above guilt, terror, and anxiety and become the first in her family to attend university.