Documentary Analysis: The First Generation

The 2011 documentary, First Generation, follows four students’ journeys during the last few years of high school as they strive to be the first in their families to attend college. All four featured students, Cecilia, Keresoma (“Soma”), Jess, and Dontay, have the grades and the determination to succeed but they lack the financial support which ultimately hinders their college application process. Other low income students struggle with the college application process as well and they tend to navigate it on their own. Unlike a lot of students, low income students usually don’t have the parental support at home. Most of the time, their parents aren’t familiar with the college application process seeing as they haven’t gone through it themselves.

Essentially, for first generation college striving students, the odds are not in their favor. Among the 146 most selective colleges in the United States, 74% of the students come from high income families while only 3% come from low income families. Of the low income students that are eligible for a first-tier university, 59% end up enrolling in less selective schools or forgo college all together while 67% (2/3) don’t even bother applying. At the end of the documentary, the featured students end up going to various schools. Dontay attended Sacramento State, Jess went to Bakersfield Junior College, Soma transferred to a local community college, and Cecilia studied at California State University,

My mom, being a college graduate herself, understands the importance of higher education and so I had her preparing me for college at a young age. Growing up, she (and my father before he passed) would look over my homework, attend parent-teacher conferences, and keep me accountable for my grades. When it came time to apply to colleges, my mom was there was again to edit my entrance essays, help me apply for scholarships, and financially support me with application fees and eventually