** The interview with Erika Arreguin is translated from Spanish **

Everybody’s immigration story is different. To many first-generation students, their family and culture are the core of who they are. The University’s students recognize their parents’ sacrifices for them to have a better life. 

According to the Illinois News Bureau, 23% of this year’s first-year class are first-generation students, with their families hailing worldwide. This number is up from 20% in 2021. 

Adapting to college life can be difficult for both kids and their parents. Dana Arreguin, freshman in Education, said the new environment is something unlike she’s ever experienced, which made her transition from home to the University emotional and reflective. 

“Both of my parents didn’t even get a chance to graduate high school because it was very expensive in Mexico,” Arreguin said. “So, when they arrived here it was very important to them that I continue my education at least until high school.”

Arreguin’s mom is from Guanajuato, Mexico. Her family now lives in northern Illinois. Arreguin is the first in her household to attend college. Her mother, Erika Arreguin, was encouraging of Arreguin’s choice to go to college.

“I told her whichever one you wanted (colleges), whether it’s near or far from home, I’ll support you,” Erika Arreguin said.

Latino immigration is high in the United States. Many families come here to give their children the opportunity of having a better and safer life. According to a study done by Pew Research Center, 76% of Latino migrants say that raising children is better in the United States than in their country of origin. 

Arreguin said the University’s Latino population makes moving easier for Latino students, as she knew that she was not alone. 

“There’s organizations at the University that make me feel at home, like La Casa Cultural Latina or Latino Student Association,” Arreguin said. “They make me feel at home and connected.”

Sometimes, being away from each other can be the most challenging part for first-generation students and their families. Jenna Bui, freshman in LAS, experienced the struggles of being separated from her parents this year. 

“My mom’s been afraid of me being far away from her,” Bui said. “Usually, in Asian cultures, most families and relatives live near each other or live in the same house.”

Bui’s mom is from Vietnam and currently lives in the Chicago suburbs. Bui is the first daughter to attend college. 

“For my immigrant parents, having a kid that goes to a good college makes them proud because they worked really hard to be in the position where they’re at now,” Bui said. “My mom worked a lot, it wasn’t easy for her.” 

Erika Arreguin shares the same feelings as Bui’s mom about missing their daughters while they are away at college. However, Erika Arreguin is in awe of the opportunities college has to offer her daughter.

“Yes, it has been a little difficult because one worries, and more because I am a mother,” Erika Arreguin said. “But instead of crying and having tears in my eyes, I think about how to help her.”

There might be a physical distance between these mothers and their daughters, but the pairs expressed they are always thinking of each other. Both sets of mothers and daughters talk on the phone everyday and go home as often as possible. 

“I visit them during the holiday breaks and in between, like if I feel homesick,” Bui said.

Part of Bui and her mom’s struggles with attending college have been because of different mindsets and traditions. Bui said language barriers often make it hard for messages to get through to her parents.

“My parents were raised in a strict household,” Bui said. “I feel like it’s hard for them to understand American culture here.”

Bui further expressed American culture can be hard to understand if someone was not raised in it, and it makes being an immigrant only more complex than it already is.

“Take advantage of everything you are doing because, at the end of your studies, it will be worth it,” Erika Arreguin said. “All the sacrifice, all the sleepless nights, is worth it. Because you are going to come out of college successfully.”

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