Reflections on College From a Proud First-Generation Student

Today is the 15-year anniversary of my college graduation from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Above is a photo of me just after receiving my diploma: exhausted, elated, and full of a deep sense of accomplishment. Honestly, all these years later, it is still the thing I am most proud of in my life.

See, I am a first-generation college student, meaning that in my third-generation American family, I am the first to earn a college degree. Coming from a blue-collar background, going off to college wasn’t a given for me like it was for a lot of my millennial peers. My parents were encouraging me to forego higher eduction altogether in favor of getting a trade like they had done, but at school in the ’90s, we were all force-fed the idea that a college education was the golden ticket to success.

I didn’t know what to do...

So, after high school I enrolled at Cape Cod Community College to spend some time figuring it out. Very quickly I discovered that my art classes were what I enjoyed the most and where I felt at home. Was this my answer?

Just days into my first semester, I met with my guidance counselor to talk about transferring to art school. I scheduled campus tours on the weekends for myself, put together my portfolio, wrote my college essays, and sent off applications to three schools. I was completely shocked when the acceptance letter came in from MassArt, my top choice, and although I got into the other two schools as well, MassArt felt right.

I enrolled, took out a whole bunch of student loans (even getting my first credit card so I could build credit and take them out in my name without a co-signer), worked harder in my classes than I have ever worked at anything in my life, and four years later, I was the very proud recipient of a BFA in Graphic Design.

After graduation, I was fortunate enough to land a job in my field right away and I’ve been working in the creative world ever since.

And while I honestly don’t believe that a college degree is the one and only ticket to success like the ‘90s led me to believe, I do think it was the right decision for me. So, kudos to 17-year-old Danne for not only for knowing what was right for her, but for making it happen.