I hate being a first generation college student
Background: Parents never went to college and quit their jobs to collect social welfare benefits. Even after 40 years they refuse to learn english and will never assimilate into society. But somehow they think I will magically succeed with 0 effort.
Parents sent me to college, with no knowledge of the education system and no support. Yet, they still expect me to maintain perfect grades while also being available for constant chores such as manual labor, tutoring siblings, translating things, completing forms, and basically everything else. I have no free time.
The problem is that uneducated and unemployed asian parents just don't understand the insane amount of time and effort it takes to be a college student. I have to complete challenging assignments, study for exams, edit my resumes, apply for internships, perform research, attend office hours for help, practice coding and so on. In order to succeed, college requires a significant amount of time outside of class hours.
Currently, I am a senior entering my 4th year of college. However, I won't be graduating this year as I am double majoring in computer science and japanese. Unfortunately, my parents believe that just attending college for 4 years = easy bachelor's degree when that's not the case because i have additional unit requirements from being a double major. Now they are waiting for my masters degree since my mom thinks that anyone who studies undergrad beyond 4yrs automatically gets a masters degree which is bullshit. My dad on the other hand keeps pressuring me to graduate claiming that I failed even though college is not a race.
When I am not available to do a chore because I am working on a programming assignment at home, parents just assume I am playing games and accuse me of being lazy.
As for grades I was a 4.0 gpa student in highschool but as expected, my gpa is a 3.5 in college. Parents don't understand that the college curriculum can't be compared to highschool level. Instead they are saying I got "dumber" which is ironic considering they had subpars grades in highschool.
I am proud of what I am able to accomplish as a first generation student, but it is frustrating that my asian parents don't recognize any of my accomplishments and instead find ways to beat me down. I have tried to calmly explain that the situation is normal, but language barrier prevents any meaningful conversation.
I managed to get the top grade for all my cs and japanese courses (but math brought gpa down). I spent a significant amount of outside class time self studying to ensure my craft is perfect for interviews. I was hired by the cs department to tutor my peers and later became a TA to teach my own classes. I applied to every single grant, finaid, and scholarship to cover all my tution plus more. I pulled myself from a struggling student who entered with 0 programming experience to a senior. I am more productive than ever. What more do my parents want?