Student from Immigrant Family Is the First in Her Family to Graduate College

Graduation this December isn’t just a walk across the stage for University of Cincinnati McMicken College of Arts and Sciences psychology major Marcia Poyser.

As the first family member to be born in the United States, she will also be the first in her family to graduate from college.

But it hasn't been easy. Along with her acceptance to UC came the question of how she could afford it since her mom had just lost her job of 15 years: “When I got my acceptance letter to UC, I showed my mom, and she asked me how I was going to pay for it."

Says Poyser, “I told her I did not know. but I would figure it out. Four and a half years later I am walking across that stage. I have worked full time while going to school full time to be able to pay my way.”

And that is a huge accomplishment for her. “It feels so surreal,” says Poyser, whose family is from Jamaica. “I am so, so, so proud of myself, and I am happy to be a positive example to not only my little cousins and other family members but to all first-generation born Americans.”

And, she says, she has her UC advisers and professors to thank—specifically Nancy Rogers, professor educator in UC's Department of Psychology.

"She has become my mentor and my second mom,” says Poyser. “I have been a teaching assistant for her. I owe Dr. Rogers the world and she means so much to me.” As does Poyser’s freshman and sophomore adviser Sue Roth, who Poyser says helped her tremendously to find help when she was having problems paying her tuition.

Ultimately, it was Poyser who worked hard to earn her degree, but she didn’t only do it for herself. “I feel like this accomplishment isn’t only for me but it is for my mom, my dad, my grandma and my grandpa who came to this country with the American dream in their hearts.”

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