To not understand people who talk about being the first in their family to go to uni like it’s a badge of honour?

Are you just intentionally goading here?

Are you actually British? Cause surely you would be aware that it’s not normal to have had kids at 16. Having sex and getting pregnant at 15/16 is not an achievement, getting a degree is.

If this post is true, you don’t really seem like you’re aware of conventions in society. Maybe you’re just trying to bring educated people down because you’re embarrassed at your own life choices and are trying to make yourself feel better.

It’s quite clear, that you have probably had an unusual path in life, so forgive me but your opinion on education isn’t valid.

It’s not a personal attack to say I bet you won’t. It is recognition that there are enormous barriers to you doing so, especially in later life.

This.
Make the journey first.

It was in our family. My grandparents were miners, a stay at home mother and a nurse (when you trained vocationally). My mum worked part time in a shop and my dad worked at a power station, no schooling beyond 15. My brother went to uni and got a first class honours and a PhD… my Dad was bloody proud of that. His son was the first in our family to go to uni and become a bloody Dr into the bargain. I got a degree but with everything else it was ‘meh we saw that two years ago with your brother!’

It’s a badge of honour and it shows that someone has overcome barriers to get there.

Do you know the age of everyone who makes this statement of being the first in the family? You seem to assume they’re all your age. But even now 50% of people don’t go to uni.
For many it’s a huge achievement. What a shame you can’t see or understand that.

OP I hope you do get to go to university. It sounds like you too will be the first in your family and you will I imagine find out that it is a big deal. Getting through the structural barriers will be tricky, particularly with a young family, but the evidence shows it makes a difference for salary and your family’s attainment over time.

Perhaps you'll understand why people feel it is an achievement when (if) you manage to complete a degree yourself.

Well if it's never happened before generationally then it's seen as more of an achievement because you've probably had to work a bit harder to move away from the norm that you grew up with.

'My parents and grandparents are Oxbridge professors, and I went to Uni' Sounds pretty inevitable and unsurprising.

'My parents and grandparents never held down steady jobs and left school at 12, and I went to Uni' Sounds a lot more impressive and noteworthy.

I think it’s a generational thing and OP is perhaps slightly young to fully get it? (altho I’m only early 30s..!).

It’s definitely true now that loads of people go to uni and it’s really accessible, so going to uni isn’t a particularly big deal on its own. I actually think uni is a waste of time for a lot of people but that’s another thread 😅

But “back in the day” ie. my parents and grandparents generation, fewer people went to uni and so a lot of importance was placed on a degree. I think a lot of that generation still carry it with them.

So yeah it is a big deal for a lot of people to be the first one in their family to go to uni and it shouldn’t be minimised if it’s important to them.

I agree OP, majority went to university from my not so great state school in a deprived area. They did degree’s at the old polytechnics which really was not worth anything, my sister included. It was easy to go to university back in the 80’s and 90’s my sister got a full grant, mine was less as I went a few years later, but it was the thing to do at the time even though all the parents were manual factory workers. I managed to get into a red brick university that was excellent at career fairs and recruitment so walked out with a few graduate offers. But agree, I don’t see it exceptional as that’s what everyone around me did at the time!

Its a big achievement and a celeb of their families educational aspiration.

Dumbing down! And apologies also for the accents.

It is mocking people to say that being proud of their achievement (being the first in their family to go to university) is comparable to what you clearly consider to be non-achievements such as 'having an iPhone in 2011'. Do you have no self-awareness?

I’m guessing it’s one of many. People like this seem to actively enjoy being loud and wrong about a diverse range of subjects.

Also despite your snarky thread YOUR accomplishments against the barrier of being a young mum are something you are, and should be, proud of. Others are proud of the barriers they have overcome.

Your original premise is wrong but it doesn't mean you can't learn from Thai thread. And it doesn't mean people should be unkind to you. I'm a big supporter of education and I wish the means to attend university of you wished had been available when you were 18 without any detriment to you (worth pointing out I know teen mums who went to university because their family always went to univeryso they had parental childcare and financial support so actually your parents not going to university probably did throw up an invisible barrier for you)

Grade inflation is so rampant and the newer universités so médiocre, it's not the achievement it once was. Most children, however non academic can find a place somewhere.

And that is a very bad thing. They leave burdened with débt arméd with a Desmond from the University of Middle Wallop to work in call centres or supermarkets, when what the country desperately needs is a huge cohort of well trained trades people.

Getting rid of the polytechnics and the mass commercialisation and dumpings down of learning has had terrible consequences.

Gosh OP, are you ignorant on other topics too, or just this one?

The other way round here. Grandchildren first in the family not to go to University. They seem to be doing OK nevertheless.

Oh my goodness. Like many posters have repeated. Neglect and abuse are not the only barriers!

Can you imagine bringing home your school work and your parents have no clue about how to approach your GCSE's - talk less of supporting your academics to degree level.

These parents are loving and good parents - but unfortunately they may not have the tools to support their children's academic journey.

So anyone that comes out of that situation with a degree - deserves their accolades.

What universities are you planning to apply to? What degree? Have you checked that no recent study is required? What are you planning to put on your personal statement?
I think, unless you’re planning to go to a rather piss
poor uni, that it may be trickier than you’re thinking.

Agree entirely. It is not easy for everyone. It doesn't mean they can't do it, but it's definitely the case that some children have considerably more support (practical and financial) than others when embarking on a university journey.

Grandparent left school at 14

Mother had a serious childhood illness & therefore a poor educational up to age 16

I was the first female in my immediate & wider family to go to higher education & onto university . This was at a time when 10% or less of the population went to university.

I was the first female to have a career in my family too

Yes my family were proud of my achievements and rightly so.