A College Experience

During their highschool years, students often look forward to college. Not necessarily as a step towards a career, but as an experience. Over the years, the media sells teenagers the idea of the ‘’college experience’’. They promote it through movies, tv shows and ads. It’s made out to be this amazing transcendental and essential part of life. Miss out on it, and you’ll have missed out on your youth. It’s not only media though, older relatives and peers, influenced by the media, further influence teens. They talk of their own cool college stories and how much fun it’ll be once you’re there. Is your main reason for going to college to live this experience? Then let’s see if it’s worth it.

I once saw a quote that said “do not judge my life by the chapter that you walked in on”. For some reason, this quote really rings true to me. Would people think of me in a different way if they knew my whole story? In every person’s life, there are so any successes, challenges and failures, that if you walked in on their life on any particular day, you would have no idea how they became the person that they are that day.

People will often tell you that they want to be rich or famous when they grow older, how will that be possible without the proper education and schooling? Many people dream of being an entrepreneur or a lawyer and they believe that it is possible to be one of those things out of thin air. It’s not. Often times most businesses want to see a degree or a diploma to even consider you for a job. However, there are many advantages of attending college. The advantages of attending college is never ending but can include incessant opportunities.

While working at Virginia College, which is a nontraditional college. I had similar issues and concerns. I found with my students. I was able to utilize my special educational background and skills in accommodating their needs and providing a variety of educational resources to assist them during their education process.

Last week at East, we had students going to the community college two days in a row and a school sponsored blood drive. The county office and community college scheduled the college days for our CTE students and seniors. It was hectic to say the least and the teachers had to be flexible. Some of the drove buses, others covered classes to give our students the opportunity to visit with college representatives and local business owners. By the end of the week, I could sense there was an undercurrent of stress. The feel or pulse of the school was off and by Friday, we had several teachers absent. To show appreciation, and to help combat high staff absents on Fridays I asked for money to buy the staff ice cream and to begin Fun Friday.

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great inspiration to me, my mother, Stephanie Sacks, about her experience in college. She went to Evergreen State College for her baccalaureate degree. She enjoyed the vast majority of the classes she took; “All of Evergreen was sort of an extracurricular.”, she said. The one she didn’t like was a biology class. “I absolutely hated that class.”, she remembered. The room was so warm, and the lectures so boring, that she fell asleep on multiple occasions. “Thank god I didn’t go to a regular college, because I would have absolutely hated it,” She chuckled. “I hated studying things I had no interest in.” Her favorite part of college was getting to pick which classes she took, which she said, “...was

“If you want to continue your education, you should go to the local community college like everyone else here and be a teacher, daycare worker, or nurse. You really cannot afford anything else, and why would you want to leave home?” These are the general comments I heard when the time arrived for me to decide my future after high-school. As if to the echo their words, I was rejected at big name colleges and waitlisted at the out-of-state college I would eventually attend. With my mom being a single mother and I as a McDonald’s employee, it was also true that my family could not afford the price tag of an expensive college. Following the path expected of me would have been easier, but I wanted to see another side of the world and experience something new. This is why I left my hometown to attend a liberal arts college where I knew no one and would make a fresh start. However, striving to be an individual in a society imposing conformation and perfection has been the greatest obstacle I have had to overcome.

Welcome to the “playground of unregulated freedom” (Delbanco, 19) that is college. These institutions all have a purpose in forming an individual. Some take their years in college to discover who they are, to gain independence, or to simply complete their degree. My personal experience thus far during my collegiate career has been to focus on following my passion. I have taken my love of athletics, and interest in the human body as a way to motivate myself through school with the end goal of receiving a doctoral degree. Given that my first year of college was full of hardships that caused questions as to whether an education was truly worthwhile, I am here as a sophomore stepping out of my comfort zone daily to pursue my passion.

"Tomorrow is the first day of what I will become." I wrote this in my diary the night before my first day of college. I was anxious as I imagined the stereotypical college room: intellectual students, in-depth discussions about neat stuff, and of course, a casual professor sporting the tweed jacket with leather elbows. I was also ill as I foresaw myself drowning in a murky pool of reading assignments and finals, hearing a deep, depressing voice ask "What can you do with your life?" Since then, I've settled comfortably into the college "scene" and have treated myself to the myth that I'll hear my calling someday, and that my future will introduce itself to me with a hardy handshake. I can't completely rid my

“Learners bring their individual backgrounds, experiences and talents that have been influenced by their families, schools, and communities. As learners grow and mature, they increase their ability to influence, contribute to, and improve their various communities.” (Miller, 2013, p. 4). Experiencing the everyday-college-life for a few weeks now, I have noticed two outstanding things about the university that I attend: the friendliness and the Sooner Pride. These two positive things have profoundly affected the way I view the University of Oklahoma. All optimism aside, there are some challenges that every student faces while entering a life of independence. The most noteworthy challenge I face is with the friends I make. All in all, the effect the University of Oklahoma is having on who I am becoming is one that I foresee to be advantageous.

My mother’s best friend Zetia once asked me, “So Miya, do you think you will pursue a college degree?” “Yes, of course.” I responded. “Well it is not like you have much of a choice, but why do you want to go college? Do you want to go simply because you don’t have a choice but to do so with the career that you want to pursue? Or perhaps you’re aiming for that same college experience that characters Whitley and Devin earned in the show A Different World and movie Drumline? What is your reason for wanting to attend college?” she asked. “Well, I do want to attend college for all of those reasons,” I responded, “but one of my main reasons for wanting to attending college are to not only continue a legacy of pursuing a post-secondary degree and attending a historically black college, but to also gain some of the same experiences that you and my parents had as college students, such as homecoming.” Attending my parents’ homecoming for the very first time played a significant role in deciding to attend college.

Living alone, away from home is a challenge millions of students have to undergo each year across the globe. It is like starting kindergarten again. You are entering a new place, with new people, starting a new phase of your life. After being separated form your parents, some may cry, others will run with joy at the taste of independence. However, as hard as it may be for some to admit it, they will miss their family and previous way of living. This is why finding the right college is so important to students. They have to feel comfortable in the new environment.

Students that live on campus can benefit from meeting new people, making some of their lifelong friends, networking with professionals in which will benefit their careers, or just being able to live the college experience. These beneficial opportunities are crucial to the conception of what a college experience will provide for a student. When being in the position of a RA it is important to produce opportunities that offer these benefits through programs and events in your halls. As a RA it’s important to have authority over the residents you oversee, while being approachable to guide them get lost. We offer the guidance and opportunities through offering friendship building programs or programs that offer beneficial career intelligence. As

One of the greatest decisions of my life was to continue my education. It took more than 16 years after I graduated high school to muster the courage to sign up for college courses. I often indulged in negative thinking and talked myself out of going back to school, convinced I wasn’t intelligent enough--and, as the years breezed by, I thought I was getting too old as well for such lofty endeavors. One day (for no particular reason) I decided to silence my negative thinking and saunter down to Lincoln County Campus to see what college was all about. I am grateful I took that first step because they have led me to experiences that have transcended all my expectations.

It is often very difficult to fit in with everyone, especially during my teenage years. My parents continually emphasize the importance of being responsible, thinking through opportunities, commitment to my best and not complying myself to the average teenage lifestyle. I feel that being a teenager can be hard at times because we go through so much pure pressure, life changes, and just the cruel judgment of the world. I have learned so much from that and improved myself as a person. Sometimes I find it very intriguing that I am more mature than others, but I feel it will better prepare me for college and my future. Every day is a new challenge and I am so glad that I have my family and God to take me through it. I am often told by my family how proud they are of me because I can demonstrate at a young age responsibility, discipline, and the desire to care for others.