Freshmen in college participate in many surveys, answering numerous questions about their lives. But there is one set of questions that always leaves Erika Charleston a little uncomfortable.

Where did your father attend college? Where did your mother attend college?

Charleston responds, 'no comment.'

The College of Arts & Sciences freshman is a first-generation college student; her parents never went to college.

Charleston has lived in five different homes in her life, but said her life does not create any kind of handicap for her, and she does not want to be seen that way.

She was the second of 11 children and lived with her mother in Milwaukee until she was 12 and moved in with her aunt. After three years with her aunt, she moved in with her grandmother for a couple months. Then, she moved in with her brother's grandmother, Sharon Charleston.

Sharon always wanted Erika to go to college, because she never got the chance to go.

When Sharon died of lung cancer last year, Carol and Mickey Stein adopted Erika.

Carol Stein said the family had known Erika because she was a friend of one of Stein's students, Jessica Morgan, who would also move in to the Stein home.

"My family's always had very loose rules for membership and we've always had other people living with us," Stein said. "My kids always brought home friends that needed time away from their own home, or exchange students, or whatever."

In the Stein home, Charleston experienced an entirely new environment. Although the Steins are not orthodox Jews, they follow the religion closely.

"My mom will not let me have a cheeseburger in the house," said Charleston, referring to a Jewish dietary law that prohibits consuming meat and dairy products together.

"It either has to be a hamburger without cheese, or a veggie burger with cheese. It's fun though. They're really good people."

Although neither Charleston's biological parents nor her older brother attended college, she always intended to go to college. She said most people figured she would, because of her good grades throughout high school.

During the summer of 2003, Charleston participated in a program called Health Bridges Career Program, which helps minorities and lower-income udents get into college. While she was with the program, she visited most colleges in Wisconsin, but never seriously thought about going to Marquette. She said her first choice was Alverno College, an all-female school in Milwaukee where she planned to study nursing.

Charleston said she thought Marquette was too expensive and worried she was not smart enough. But others had confidence in her.

Michael Willkommen is a librarian who had become good friends with Charleston when she was in high school, largely because of her love for reading.

"It's weird, because we were total opposites," Charleston said, "but we would have four-hour conversations after school."

Willkommen fueled Charleston's love for reading and helped persuade Charleston to apply to Marquette. She did so one week before the deadline.

Charleston was accepted and with the help of private scholarships and the Education Opportunity Program, a program to help first-generation and low-income students, she was able to afford it.

One of the reasons Charleston chose Marquette over Alverno was because Marquette offered more options. Instead of nursing, she chose her passion — English. Stein said she is "doing what she deep down knows what she wants to do and what is best for her."

"She does what she enjoys," said Alison Wessendorf, a College of Health Sciences freshman who is one of Charleston's best friends. "And you can tell, because she's really passionate about it."

Charleston met Wessendorf on the CommUNITY floor in McCormick Hall, a floor designed for students who want to learn about other cultures.

"It just kind of clicked because we were both really outgoing and just started talking and were really open with each other," Wessendorf said. "She is a really cool girl and she has been through a lot in her life. It's amazing how caring she is and how open she is to new experiences."

Although her life has been difficult, Charleston said she does not want anyone to feel sorry for her.

"A lot of kids will use stuff like that to get extensions on papers and make excuses, but I don't want to do that," she said.

Instead of making excuses, Charleston strives to make herself a better person, Stein said.

"Even though it hasn't always been easy, she really has some kind of inner force that has her working hard and driving her to be an amazing young lady," Stein said.

"I think she's a really good model to other young people who have perhaps not the easiest of life, but are able to stay focused and make the right decisions, and set themselves up for a successful life."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 10 2005.