Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Don't Let It Sink, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

I trip, I fall, and then I pick myself back up again. This has become a daily routine for someone like me. There are days when the easiest thing to do is give up--plain and simple. But, as I tease with the idea, something always turns me, aligns me, back on track. No one said a journey was easy. No one said an ocean calm. After all, "a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor."

Personal Statement, Alvaro Gonzalez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The art of a well crafted Personal Statement.

A Quasi-Prose, Quasi-Spoken Word About The Mullings Of A First Gen Girl, Diana Delgado

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

There are many types of first generation students. I happen to be of the immigrant sort, with parents that have degrees that mean very little on this soil. The "kingdom of the lingua franca" mentioned—the land of English—was very difficult to navigate without first conquering the language, but even afterwards there are some immovable disadvantages. You'll find rich Peruvian references in this piece—Manco Cápac, the founder of one of the longest lasting Inca dynasties, referred to himself as “the son of the sun”; since the sun was a god, Inti, this gave him and succeeding rulers much political power. "Pachamama" …

Listening Past Your Suffering, Kelsie Munnings

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Reading "Sonny's Blues" instilled, or deepened, my passion for words and imagery. I really enjoyed reading and analyzing the narrative's content and connecting how certain words, phrases, and figurative language represented more than what was written at face value. The meanings of these literary elements are what captured me and held me hostage to the bewilderment in James Baldwin's mind as he created the piece and to understand how he could create such a painting of words. I see this in my everyday life; whether it is writing an essay or some form of creative expression, I crave to design …

Natural Resources, Chris Rodriguez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem describes the imposter syndrome I had to struggle through as a first-gen student. There are so many extraneous distractions and worries that can lead us astray, make us feel overwhelmed and useless, at least in my case, and I still do get distracted sometimes, but that just takes time away from my day’s study time. I recall my studies at the university bringing up social justice issues and grim histories that I could do nothing but learn about, and it seemed as if the only control I had over my life was to look down upon it. I …

Your Path Versus Mine, Genesis Montalvo

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem uses fairytale references to show the differences between first-gen college students and those whose parents have gone to college.

To Be Where You Are, Genesis Montalvo

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This piece is about my leave of absence that I had to take last spring for financial reasons, which I think most first-gen students can relate to because finances get difficult for us.

#Lifeofamuslimfeminist, Nadia Kelifa

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Navigating post-9/11 era America as a young Black Muslim woman, I have found my own little niche within the world of the intersectionality. As the daughter of immigrants and a first generation college student, I believe all that (through a traditional lens) further marginalizes me is precisely why I have such a deep appreciation for diversity. There is nothing simple about the complexities of identity politics and Noorulann Shahid's "Life Of Muslim Feminist" Twitter trending topic sparked a critical conversation on the topic globally, which later inspired me to write this poem.

The Lookout, Morika Fields

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

I presented this piece for the first time at the First-Gen Cafe. There is an older, more experience voice in the poem that is speaking to the reader. However, this is actually me speaking to myself. It reflects that first-gen college students often have to be their own guide. The poem also expresses my desire to help other students who are not as far along on their paths as I am.

Ted Fields, Sr., Morika Fields

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem is about the life of my late grandfather who encouraged me every time we spoke. He urged me to continue in school saying, "The more degrees you have after your name, the better." I can't reflect upon my college experience without recognizing his influence.

White Boy, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This piece represents the difference between race and environment coming from my perspective as a first-gen college student.

Life Is Very Much Like A Storm, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

A day in the life of a first gen student.

I'M On The Right Track, Guadalupe Mejia

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Being a first generation college student meant that sometimes I would feel confused and lost among the swarm of information being thrown at me. This piece shows how necessary it is to keep a positive outlook and to learn to rely on the support that you receive, whether from parents or from within. This is my first-gen experience.

Click, Alvaro Gonzalez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Hope is out of our hands. One can hope immensely, but the simple act of hoping is rooted in a feeling of helplessness. This short story is a play on desperation and hope. It brings to life the feelings of desperation I felt as a first-gen student my first year. Being free to imagine a world of my choosing. Going into places of happiness within my mind when happiness couldn't physically manifest itself for me. The feeling of not being able to control your own life, where its going, and where you want it to be. Luckily I wasn't abandoned. …

Nadie: A Modern Rapunzel Story, Diana Delgado

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

The play explores the emerging identity of “Undocuqueer”—the intersection of undocumented immigrants and LGBTQ people-- as we follow Nadia's upward journey to being the first in her family to attend a US university. Like many young kids in her situation, Nadia is a classic ni de aqui ni de alla, straddling two vastly different social classes, two nationalistic allegiances, two cultures and is eventually caught between the two women she cares about the most.

Mi Tierra Natal, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

My father has an overarching influence on me. It has, for as long as I can remember, been my goal to make him proud of me. I'm not sure if I have, I am not sure if haven't, but one thing is for certain, he has and will always continue being my motivation. He, along with my mother, are my reason to continue on with this concept of "pushing forward." They are the defintion of my first-gen expereince, but I think it's important for me to understand their experiences and how they have shaped mine. This is my attempt at …

Higher Education, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This is literally my story of attending LMU as a first-gen college student. It includes what it took for me to get here as well as the struggles that I still face. I am still writing this essay as I live it, but I am glad that I had a chance to reflect on where I have come so far.

Hasty Journaling On A Badass Little Old Lady's Computer, Anonymous

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

AB Trip Tucson/East LA 2014 was heartwrenching for this writer. The trip focused on immigration, particularly on the plights of the people affected by the militarization of the border. The writer is undocumented his/herself, and for this reason would prefer to keep his/her identity en cachette.

Vision: The Blind Steps Of A First-Generation College Student, Adrian Vazquez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

It is difficult to pinpoint or isolate specific events in a person’s life and say, “There, that is what caused this to happen--that’s what’s shaped him in to who he is.” Often it is a series of sometimes unrelated events that mold and shape an individual into who he or she is. This is such an account. It is a narrative of my journey describing some of the twists and turns, the good times and the bad leading up to my acceptance into LMU and the beginning of my new life.

The Interweaving Of Metaphor: Writing And Crocheting, Jennifer Ellspermann

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

As part of my personal development, I found that attending LMU helped me to better understand my multiple identities. How do you define a half Mexican/half Caucasian female who is a fraternal twin and had a Catholic school upbringing? I have found that my family, educational background, and creative writing has helped me to express the excitement, frustrations, and expectations of being the first in my family to obtain a university degree.

I'Ve Changed, Kenneth Chancey

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This piece entitled "I've Changed "is a personal testimony told creatively through incorporation of a physical statue known by many, and the use of imagination, in order to understand my past experiences. Just as "I've Changed" demonstrates my potential to adapt and overcome many obstacles that have presented themselves to me in the past, it also highlights my strength and potential to continue pushing forward. The piece relates to my first-generation experience here at LMU because often I have felt isolated, dumb and unworthy of the education I have received, not because I lack intelligence, but because I did not …

A Speechless Night, Guadalupe Astorga-Contreras

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Death is something we all have or will deal with. However, as first-generation college students, many of us have loved ones in different countries, and even continents, who we can't get to in these difficult times. This piece explores my reaction to a personal experience in which I was not able to say goodbye to my grandmother because of my inability to travel out of the country due to certain circumstances.

The Wardrobe Of Easter: Learning God's Word, Dale Cooper

Coop's Column

A devotional about the importance of studying God's word.

Naccs 41st Annual Conference, National Association For Chicana And Chicano Studies

NACCS Conference Programs

Fragmented Landscapes in Chicana and Chicano Studies: Deliberation, Innovation or Extinction?
April 9-12, 2014
Hilton Salt Lake City Center

University Of Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Department Of Music, University Of Richmond

Music Department Concert Programs

No abstract provided.

The Music Of Steely Dan, Usu Jazz Ensemble, Usu Jazz Orchestra, Greg Wheeler, Jon Gudmundson

All Music Department Programs

A performance featuring USU's Big Band Jazz Ensembles.

Of Causes And Casualties: Safeguarding The Legacy Of The American Civil War, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

750,000 and rising. 2.5 percent of the population. Greater than all other American wars combined. No matter how one describes them, the casualties incurred as a result of the American Civil War are nothing short of astounding. To those who study this devastating conflict, the numbers of the fallen can seem old friends, as the cost of great battles such as Antietam or Gettysburg are burned into memory. Yet is it possible that disproportionate emphasis has been placed on the bloody toll of the Civil War? [excerpt]

Marshall University Music Department Presents A Junior Recital, Ryan Morgan, Double Bass, Ryan Morgan

All Performances

No abstract provided.

Submarines For Aviators, Randy Hoffman

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

What does a docent at the Pima Air & Space Museum know about submarines? A lot! Find out in this light-hearted yet informative look how they developed, how they ‘fly’ through the water and what they can do. Learn their history from WW II to the birth of nuclear propulsion and the modern missile and attack submarines. Remember, aviators may look down on them but the subs are also looking up!

Identifying The Visible: A Look At How Economic Class And Ethnicity Influence Women's Visibility Within A Household, Cori Elise Rich

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeology has allowed for underrepresented, often invisible, groups of people within history to become visible and have their stories told. Minority groups such as women, African Americans, and those occupying the lower class are just some of these underrepresented groups who have been identified through cultural remains. Despite archaeologists' best efforts in identifying these groups; there is still much work yet to be conducted. There is a lack of information from the eighteenth-century, and even less work done on the way ethnicity and class impact women's visibility within the archaeological record.

This paper utilizes seven site reports, from households of …