KVCC Honors our First Gen Community Members: Landi Wright

Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/09/2020 - 11/14/2020

KVCC celebrates First Gen Day by honoring our First-Gen members of the KVCC community. Today we are honoring Landi Wright. Her First Gen story encapsulates common First Gen themes; namely that the student feels like they don’t belong. She shares:

“Although neither of my parents held a college degree, they did understand the value of an education; so I was raised with the assumption that I would go to college after high school. I applied and was accepted to a private college in New York. I even went so far as to travel there for a two-day freshman orientation; but ultimately, I chose not to attend college then. Honestly, I was just too afraid. I felt so out of place among the other freshmen at the orientation, like I didn’t belong there. How could I relate to these kids from affluent homes with well-educated parents? How could they ever understand and accept me, a low-income, first-generation student who didn’t have the same background, ideas, experiences, social skills, and opportunities that they had? Years later, I did finally find my way back to college and completed my degree, but I have never forgotten that feeling of not belonging, of not having “all the right stuff” to be a college student. This is what drives me to always strive for excellence when serving students here at KVCC – I want every student who walks into my office to know that there is at least one person here who understands the challenges they face, accepts them where they’re at, and believes that they DO belong here.”

If you would like to share your First-gen success story and you are a first-gen grad, please fill out our survey here!