Audio story assignment for JOUR 325, by Brandon Sarmiento and Alejandro Perez

CSUN SRC Audio Story (J325)

Sean Interview (J325)

Transcript: 

Question 1: What is your name and major(s) you studied at CSUN?
"Hello, my name is Holly Lin and I studied Asian American Studies and Psychology at California State University, Northridge. I graduated in May of 2022."

Question 2: Considering that your sister went to college, do you consider yourself a first-gen college student?
"I consider myself a first-generation college student because even though my sister went to college and graduated, because of the fact that there as much support for me to graduate, to apply to colleges and actually like figure out the processes of when I get to college, how to join clubs or how to make friends, how to find my community and what kind of resources are there on campus."

"Like all that I sought out by myself and kind of just navigated college with the support of my friends, my community and also just because of my initiative to look for things. And so in that sense, I would consider myself personally a first-generation college student because there wasn't as many resources for me or my sister to be able to understand the college process in the U.S."

Question 3: Were there any struggles you faced as a first-gen student?
"The struggles of being first generation at CSUN really showed up in like academics and social life. I think academically it was very hard to navigate the unit system and understand like, oh, what are the majors and the minor system of picking out your major, picking out your minor, and then having to go and understanding how many units you have to take each semester. Which classes to take, you know, the process of like double dipping your units."

"I think socially and mentally, it was a very huge struggle. You know, I come from a big city (San Francisco) and then going to the (San Fernando) Valley was like a very small, like suburban area. And, you know, there wasn't like I was used to being around like Asians a lot when I was growing up, right? So when I went to the Valley and I didn't find an Asian community that I felt connected with, it was very isolating and depressing."

"That was actually when I first got diagnosed with depression and I was like, whoa, like, this is wild, right? Because, I mean, I've always knew I had depression, but I think just like the isolation and loneliness I felt at CSUN was so intensified."

Question 4: Did the pandemic affect your education during your time at CSUN?
"I remembered when I was online for CSUN and during the pandemic, the biggest struggle for me was to justify the importance of education in that moment when everything was just online."

Question 5: What advice would you like to give to other first-gen students who may be in the position you once were in?
"I think words of wisdom I'd offer to first-generation college students is to understand your position in this world. To understand your history of like your family and people around you and where you're at. And I think to also allow other people to really offer you guidance and support in your educational journey."

bsarmie