Bones and Heart: A First-Generation Scholar's Inheritance

Abstract

Situating Samantha Osbiston’s short story collection, “Adrift” in ancestral legacy, “Bones and Heart” is a narrative essay examining intergenerational resilience in the context of first-generation scholarship. Through memories of her grandparents’ lives shaped by poverty, exclusion, and endurance, Osbiston explores how intellectual curiosity and emotional strength are transmitted outside formal education. The essay challenges narrow definitions of “first-generation,” framing success not as self-made but as the continuation of a collective inheritance of persistence and love.