My College Career Changed My Life

I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school

In early 2006 I was knocked off track. My little brother was killed in a car accident at the age of 17. My world went pretty dark for a while, and I dropped out of college and left my jobs. After a few months of deep grieving, I got on my feet and got a job making more money as a receptionist for a window company. I pushed my passion to the back of my brain and put the money first. I was all determined to have a “grown up job” and be on my own. This meant I couldn’t afford classes, or books. I also had to have a full time day job to afford my rent. Teaching went to the back burner for several years. I was offered higher positions at my job, and pretty soon found myself sitting in the office behind the desk from which I myself was hired. I hated it. I could sit on the computer all day long and do nothing. Most people would’ve loved my job. But I could not handle

Later as an adolescent, I was an active member of my high school’s Girls Football team and Volleyball. I attend a post-secondary institution right after high school; I received my Medical Assistance Certification from Star Technical Institute in Whitehall, PA. I pursue my dreams of obtaining the education I had always desired and found a great job in the medical assistance field. Another event, which shifted my life forever, was accepting a marriage proposal at a young age and marrying in 1991. I made it clear from the beginning that my education was very important to me and marriage would not stand in the way of my pursuing post-secondary studies or even completing high school. When I announced my engagement due to my pregnancy I was, determine to complete all my studies to make a better life for my son. I became a mother in February 1991 and continued to work as a Manager for a retail store until my husband, who had been unemployed since our marriage, found work. When he secured employment, it gave me the financial flexibility to pursue my dream of attaining higher education, In July 1992. Working in the medical field, you gain so much knowledge and then transferring into the mortgage career, I gained lots of experience. My last job I went back to the medical field as that was the quickest job I can find in my area that was hiring. I was so nervous due to not knowing anyone and having to relearn everything all over

I grew up on a farm about 3 hours north of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. I grew up as the oldest of 9 children, making our house a very busy place. It is there that I attended school at Menahga Public Schools, about 15 miles from our home. I graduated with about 45 students in 2014. I attended Minnesota State Community and Technical College as a Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) student for my Junior and Senior Year, attaining an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts, also in May of 2014. In the Fall of 2014, I attended the University of North Dakota (UND), looking to attain my Bachelors of Science. I attended UND for three years, graduating this spring with my Bachelors of Science. During my life I have held a variety of jobs, ranging from farmhand to

Twenty-six years ago. I began the quest to find the perfect college. As I drove down the driveway of Bay Path College, I knew this was the college I was going to attend. I was drawn to the rural setting, the beautiful campus and the small academic community. My intent for life after high school was to get my associates degree, earn some money, then begin working toward my bachelor degree. In retrospect, I did not possess the confidence or drive needed to be a good student. I struggled for the next couple of years to earn my Associates degree, however was apprehensive to commit to the time or expense it would take to continue my education. After a very long break in schooling, I now approach education with a new mindset and ready to commit

During my life I was taught education is important to make it in today’s society. So because of that I went to school for C.N.A. (Certified Nursing Assistant) straight out of high school in 1992. After working in this field for a couple years I decided that this field wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I then decided to work in the Customer Service field with varies companies like BellSouth in the repair department and Carnival Cruise Line in the reservation department. In June of 2003, I took a break to have my third daughter that was premature. After being out of work for about two years I decided to go back to school. I enrolled in University of Phoenix to study Healthcare Administration. After completing the degree in Healthcare

Coming back to school after being away for 17 years has been one of the most emotionally taxing endeavors I've experienced. My career experience was working in the quality control field. Being apart of the industry was very satisfying until the point in which the 2008 recession hit. Having to go through the uncertainty of being laid off and the frustration of trying to reenter the work force with only a high school diploma brought into focus that I needed to finish the bachelor degree I had started. While attempting to find gainful employment I took the opportunity to begin the process of transferring to a school here in California. I had originally started my degree in Lincoln, Nebraska, but moved out to California with my significant other.

I found a job that I have been at for twenty years now. Ten years ago I met my current wife; she had put herself through college and was proud of her accomplishment. Throughout our marriage she would encourage me go back to school and complete a degree for myself. I would always tell her there just was not enough time in a day or money in the bank for college; this was my excuse so I wouldn’t fail.

I contemplated taking a semester off to have my child and reprioritize my life. However, after speaking my faculty mentor, I received the encouragement I needed to pushed forward and complete my degree. Sadly, I made the ultimate decision to postpone my journey to medical school to care for my family. After graduation, I decided to join the workforce to support my family. As a recent college graduate, I experienced difficulties obtaining employment and this was very discouraging, especially since I was caring for two young individuals. Eventually, I obtained a full-time position at a local community college and have been there for about six years educating minds to achieve their educational

Entry #1: College has been one of the most intimidating experiences for me. This is the second time I started college the first time I got pregnant with my daughter and my husband joined the military so we moved many states away. I ended up dropping out. I blamed my husband joining the military and becoming pregnant for not finishing. Truthfully it was a lack of trying. Granted it would have been harder for me to finish school it was still do able under those circumstances. A hurdle I had to face before start college is to stop making up excuses and to stop blaming my situation for why I could not do it. I would constantly say that I could not do college because I was a stay at home mom. When being a stay at home mom should have been a reason

Growing up in a country where educational preferences were given to boys, my father went against the society norms and encouraged me to get higher education. Along with his guidance and my thirst for knowledge I was accepted in engineering program. I was happily pursuing my degree, when suddenly all this came to halt; my father was seriously ill. He wanted me to get married before he leaves this world. Few weeks later, I met my husband, who at the time was visiting Pakistan for his cousin’s wedding and within months I was married. I came to United States with a hope of better future and dreams of finishing my education, but was unable to do so as I was expecting our first child and had no one to help us with the baby. I dedicated myself to raise our daughter, but deep down that feeling of emptiness lingered. Life kept moving forward, we moved a few times, gradually I started to adapt to being a stay home mother of two beautiful girls. Numerous times I brought home admission forms from CCBC but started to doubt myself if I was going to be able to do restart after such a big gap? I started volunteering at my daughter’s school and was soon hired as a teacher’s helper to assist with children with special needs. While working at school, I was again in an environment that reminded and encouraged me to fulfill my lost dreams. In 2012, I enrolled at CCBC with no career path in mind: I just wanted start again! Once I started I never looked back and I will continue to thrive.

Even as a young child, I aspired to change the world and make it better. I wanted to go to school three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year, even during the summer I was waiting for August because I just simply couldn’t wait any longer to meet my teachers, learn new material, and most importantly figure out what I wanted in life. Throughout high school I had changed my career choice at least five times. At one point in time, I believed I would never secure a profession. During that time, I lost the incentive to stay ahead in my classes, I felt like I was just going through the motions, and my mind was on auto-pilot. It wasn’t until my junior year that I found my calling. A friend of mine was in a tough place after being involved in

In 2009, I attended my first semester at a community college in Northern California. With the pressure from family and a constant reminder that college was the only way to proceed, I enrolled out of responsibility to nobody and no idea where to start. It wasn’t long before I was a college drop-out, married, and moving out of the state. I cared more for working and making money than I did about going to college to obtain a degree. It took nearly five years and two children to cause me to realize how much of a mistake it had been not to complete my education. I have become stuck in a low paying position at a grocery store deli, with a husband who works only part time, due to a disability, while trying to raise who children. Having to pay basic rent and utility bills has become an excessively stressful process that we continuously struggle with. To provide for my family, I need a career that

Looking back over the last couple of years, I have noticed that my life has changed drastically. After I gave this change some thought, I came to the conclusion that going to college at an earlier age has brought this change. I have noticed that I am more mature and aware of what goes on at school; I spend more time working on my future career than I do anything else, and I am a better student academically.

Growing up the daughter of a preacher and missionaries in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I was taught giving and helping from an early age. My mother often taught a crocheting class in our home to a group of impoverished Indian women. She was trying to empower them by giving them the tools and knowledge to create crafts that they could use to sell and support themselves and their families.