College students from the working cl ass have interesting stories to tell about the meaning and operation of mobility through education. I am myself a “working-class academic" and I here explore some of the issues and dilemmas of uncovering and presenting these stories. I discuss the effects of interviewing those similar to one’s self;  the possibility of losing voice when interviewing too many participants;  the responsibility of the researcher to take seriously the importance of renaming interview participants to ensure both anonymity and integrity;  the question of audience; and  the issue of reliability.

By the numbers, I probably never should have made it to college. I was the oldest
daughter of teen parents who struggled to survive economically. We moved around a lot, sometimes when we moved to a new school district I would be given the same textbook I had used the previous year in a different school district. I began working outside the home before I was a teenager, doing odd jobs here and there, and then I worked full-time when I was old enough. I had teachers who looked down on me for being from the wrong side of town. I only took the SAT once, and that was more by accident than purpose. I only applied to one school because I was not aware that fees could often be waived if you were poor. My high school counselor tried to encourage me to find an appropriate career that wouldn’t require a college degree. In fact, I had to start college twice. The first time, at a big state school, my scholarship was delayed and I was evicted from the dormitories. With no one to turn to and no place to go, I simply stopped going to class and never registered for the second semester.