Did anyone else see this article in The Chronicle today?  The article discusses the disconnect some first generation college students feel when interacting with their families and includes stories from interviews with several Ph.D. students from working class backgrounds.

As a first generation college student myself, I can identify with some of these issues.  Although I don’t feel a pressure to “dumb down,” as one student said, and I do think that my family is proud of my accomplishments, I sometimes feel that my parents wish I would hurry up and get a “real job.”  When it comes to the pressure to start a family . . . well, let’s just say I identify with Cecilia on this one :).

What did you think of the article?  Were there any parts of these students’ stories that you identified with?