Even though some of our students feel a loss of direction right now, they do know that
they want to succeed. They all see bright futures for themselves. There is nothing holding them back. Being at college has given them options they hadn't realized before and a chance to go after them.
One of Maria Lupe's long-term goals is to be a counselor. This goal places her, along with many other first generation students, in a group of students who want to give back to their communities.

[I] think I'm getting an advantage of mylanguage, because before I was like okay I have to get like, forget a little bit of the Spanish language and focus on the English. And now I'm here and I'm thinking, NO, I can do both things at the same time. I don't have to lose anything. So I have the skills, I have the knowledge of the language, I want to do the major with Spanish. And also I want to do the HCom major because I want to be a counselor. I want to work with the students (13).

     Of the sophomores interviewed only Carlos Armenta didn't comment on going back to the community with his degree. "I want to ... work with like film, video productions, but I still want to be in music. Maybe what I really might want to do is go into like film scoring. Scoring music in a film, that's a really neat thing, that I'd like to do"(3 1). From our secondary readings, we learned that a first-generation student is typically concerned with social issues and careers that are in the community. Dreaming past the community was left to the traditional student on a college campus. Even though Sandra wants to go back to work with the children in her home community she dreams big. With some prompting from her mom she dreams of one day obtaining a Ph.D. She feels that most people don't take advantage of the opportunity that's before them, and she's going to grab hers. Sandra is also considering transferring to a different university.

I'm also planning on transferring next spring to a different
college. Get to meet new people, and a new community. Just something different. I want to transfer to Stanislaus or
Arizona State . . . I just want to go somewhere else. It sounds
interesting to just go. It's kinda scary. I want to go by myself because no one wants to go with me. So I don'tknow. It's going to be a challenge. Just to meet new peopleand adjust to a new community (23).

When Sandra first planned on going to college she wanted to go far away from
where she grew up, but because of family issues she stayed. So her desire to transfer seems natural. Others who aren't sure of where they want to go with a degree find other places to go. Cesar seems set in his goals.

Well I am going to keep on studying but you know I
decided to join the military. And I am going to still study.
I am really not sure what I really want to be, I wanted to be
a teacher, and I still do, but I have so many, I guess a
couple of things, counseling ... police officer or something
like that, I just have to wait and see how it turns out. What
ever feels better, I have not doubts (12).

    Carlos Armenta also has some advice about how to choose what to do in life, "do what you like, and make it a profession. What do you like? What do you like to do? You know, and make it as a profession"(33). This is the attitude that CSUMB seems to want to instill in students - that they can do and become anything they desire.