Chemists come in all shapes and sizes and all socio-economic backgrounds.
What unites them is a fascination with chemistry and the motivation and perserverance to get good at it. Perhaps the basic common characteristic of people who are attracted by chemistry is their curiousity about the world around them. They want a career associated with lifelong learning and contact with the frontiers of scientific understanding. Whatever your initial motives for pursuing chemistry in college, give it your best shot. This may mean material sacrifices, which scientists have typically made for the love of their field.