Did your parents take an active role in your college and career decisions?

My parents never went to college, we didn’t have any money, and I didn’t know a single person in my family or family friends that had been to college. When people in high school started to talk about college, I was caught off guard and had no idea what I was going to do. In some sense, that world was so foreign, that I had just assumed I wouldn’t go.

I did end up putting myself through college. And in the process, I realized that there were families where parents had groomed the kids for a certain college or career.

What was your experience like? If you went to college or learned a trade, was it something that you were familiar with from your family? Did you get guidance and help (financial or otherwise)?