Bridget Smyser
First-Generation Student Spotlight
What led you to college?
My family saw education as part of an upward journey from Old World poverty to New World security. My great-grandmother came from Poland in 1911 and never learned to read or write. My grandmother was seven months old during that trip, and she got as far as eighth grade before leaving to help support her family. My parents were the first generation to graduate high school. I felt I had to continue the progression.
What did your family understand, and not understand?
My family had no idea. My parents helped with the FAFSA, but I did the rest on my own. I had never heard of MIT before my junior year of high school; I applied because my chemistry teacher suggested it. When I got in, I truly didn’t know it was on par with the Ivies. We had no money to visit, so the first time I was east of Ohio was the first day of freshman orientation. I didn’t know what a registrar was, or a provost, or a bursar.
When did you realize you’d be navigating this without a roadmap?
The second I stepped off the plane for orientation. The airline lost my one bag of luggage. Boston was a complete maze, people really did have that accent, and every second person on the subway had two degrees. Back home, almost no one went to college.
Was there a moment you felt you didn’t belong?
I almost never felt I belonged at MIT. When I asked questions in calculus, several people told me something like, “If you have to ask that question, you don’t belong here.” Apparently, you were supposed to know everything before you left home. Two things helped me survive: sheer stubbornness, and friends. I was not going back to the neighborhood with my tail between my legs.
What skill have you built out of necessity?
Getting by on very little. Once, with a single onion, some frozen homemade broth, a little butter, and borrowed spices from the dorm kitchen, I made a small pot of delicious onion soup. Returnable cans were laundry money. Library books saved me when I couldn’t afford textbooks. Thrifty, non-materialistic values got me through, then and now.
How has your relationship with your family changed?
They still don’t necessarily understand me, but they love me, and they’re proud of me. Sure, I was a total geek, but everyone wanted me on their team for Trivial Pursuit at family gatherings because I knew all the science questions.
To my family, it means affectionate eye-rolling and the question, “NOW are you done??”
Bridget Smyser
What do you want to be different for the next generation?
It shouldn’t require my parents nearly getting the gas shut off, and me working two jobs while living on ramen noodles, to get an education. And to anyone starting out: there is more help out there than you know about. You will be okay. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Write your own first chapter.
Being the first in your family to earn a degree takes courage, and you don’t have to do it alone. Explore flexible CPS programs built around your life, your work, and your goals.
