It’s not easy being the first,
The first with GCSEs,
The first to go to college,
The first to go to university.

Your family doesn’t understand,
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Why go to university?”
“Isn’t it expensive, will you be in debt?”

And friends, well we all go our different paths,
“I might go to college or just get a job.”
“I might just get an apprenticeship.”
“I’m not going to university.”

So, you do this life changing decision, alone.
You submit the application, alone.
You pack your bags, alone.
And you finally make it to university, alone.

You make friends at university,
They’re nice and just as excited.
But there’s always a subtle divide between you,
They know how to ‘do’ university.

They know where the buildings are,
They know how to write essays,
They know how to apply for funding,
They know that you don’t.

And it feels like a mistake,
Maybe you shouldn’t have come,
You doubt your grades, your achievements,
Believing you can’t do this.

For how could you get into university in the first place?

Then the downward spiral begins,
You withdraw from your new friends,
Essays you were passing suddenly not reaching the mark,
Seminars no longer attended.

Little by little,
The ‘gifted and talented’,
First generation student,
Fails.

Perfectionism could only take you so far,
You must have known, university isn’t just about intelligence.
You have to fit in,
You have to have connections.

But you’re the first,
You’re the example,
You cannot fail,
For everyone else behind you.

Pick up those books,
Write those essays,
Go to that social you put off,
Attend the seminars.

And little by little,
You’ll pick yourself up.
Because it’s not about you, there will be more,
You’re just the first.

It’s not easy being the first,
The first to break the barrier,
The first to graduate from university,
The first to show the next that anything is possible.

REF: W-17062025-02