By comparing my own, personal observations as being a first generation, immigrant college student, to those of others, I realized that obviously, others experiences won’t be exactly the same as mine, but some trends that occur are very relatable to me. Reading about this topic from the researchers’ standpoint was hard because they usually did not include the reasons they were doing the research; as a reader you want to know if some of the researchers belong in the in-group they themselves are studying so that you can get a better understanding of the research as a whole. In one of the research I read, the female author, actually mentioned being an Indian student and improved the credibility of the research in my opinion. If she had not mentioned that, I still would have probably trusted her research because it included a large sample size, but adding some personal connection to the research makes the reader realize the author is genuinely passionate about the topic they are researching.
Maintaining objectivity when writing this paper was more difficult than I thought it would be, mainly because including personal experience is usually allowed in other writing formats. Although I am not yet sure what I have to specifically contribute to the existing research, I will tell about my own experiences on topics such as acculturation/well-being, obstacles, and the influence of my parents and career counselors I have had, when it comes to being a first generation, immigrant student.