I come from a very low income family and was the first one to go to college. My two younger brothers followed after me and my older brother eventually went back to get his degree but I didn't even know anyone who graduated college before me. None of my friends did. I got my PhD in Astonomy from a top 10 college in the United States.

I did my undergrad at a respectable but public university as a way to save money. I had enough financial support through aid, loans, and scholarships to attend. I made friends with people in my classes so I didn't have to buy any textbooks and worked as a tutor to make money. I sold my car before college and took the bus all the way back home for school breaks. I rarely went out and often skipped meals when I realized I might max out my loans. I rented an apartment with 6 other guys and took a year off before applying to grad school to save money. There was a period of time where I was took a second job on the weekends while working on my PhD. I fit the poor college student role well and probably missed out on a lot of opportunities, but I knew what I needed to do to make it happen.

The culture shock was probably harder to adjust to than the workload in a lot of ways. You kind of get used to being on all the time and figure out ways to make it work. You have no other choice then to suck it up and continue to push through. It was harder to see other people go out and do things that I wasn't able to do, especially when I knew I was putting in so much more work than they were. I didn't go on any spring break vacations during ungrad. It just wasn't a smart financial move. I couldn't mess around with that money. It worked out in the end. My brothers have said the only reason they went to college was because they saw it was possible for them. It seemed out of reach before. It forced me to think more about my finances than a lot of college students do and I have instilled that in my kids even though they are being raised in a much higher income bracket than I thought was possible as a struggling college student. It wasn't perfect but I don't believe I would change my college experience if given the opportunity to do so. I feel like it helped shape me into who I am more than any class did.