My College Experience

My first college experience was at 18 years old, a young 18 I turned 18 in May and moved out of state to attend a small private college in Indiana in August that same year. Went I graduated college I thought I was prepared and had all the tools I would need to succeed in college. In high school I did everything (or so I though) I took advanced placement classes, I had a after school job, I was dedicated and serious about my classroom. My first week of classes, I felt great, I thought I’ve got this no problem. Boy was I wrong. I began to struggle just a few week into classes and continued to struggle consistently throughout the year. Not just academically, but emotionally too. I was away from home for the first time, I moved to a new state and new city not knowing anyone for having the support I needed. After my barely scraping by my first year of college, I decided to move home and go to Ohio State. Thing did not really improve academically for me there and after 2 semesters I dropped out. At this point I was married and living on our own, I needed to work. I put my college education on hold for 11 years. During this time, I got a job as a receptionist in an office and worked there for 4 years until I was laid off. I few weeks later, I receive another receptionist job which lead to my career in Project Management. I worked as a project manager for 5 years, but still aspired to go back to college. However, having 3 kids, a husband, dog, house, and a laundry list of other

For those who attended college will say that their best years of their lives were in college, while others say otherwise. So far, my SU experience has been a blast so far, but with four years still coming ahead, there is a myriad of matters that I want to do before I graduate. As noted by Barack Obama Howard University commencement speech “Change is the effort of committed citizens who hitch their wagons to something bigger than themselves and fight for every day.” (Obama, 6), I will make use of my time for the purpose of changing the world for the better. Some of these topics that I want to do are participating in classes or majoring in another topic, traveling abroad to possibly a developing country, working at a major or a little company as an intern, finding myself and developing my people/leadership skills, and growing my skills of cooking. Hopefully, my college years will be the best moments of my life and during these times I would develop these lifelong skills for the future.

I am a twenty one year old female. I come from an old school Mexican-American Catholic family. I grew up in a low socioeconomic community but we never struggled financially my father owns a construction company. I was privileged and fortunate enough to always have what I needed and wanted. I went to school in a Hispanic dominant district it was not very diverse the minorities in this district were actually the majority. Even the teachers were not so diverse we had a few here and there that were from different ethnicities but most teachers were alumni’s from this district. While I was in school I notice amongst my classmates how some of us were more privileged than others not just economically but academically as well. Academically I was always in GT, dual credit, or AP classes and I saw how we were given a better education. We were always challenged more, we even learned more things for example how to write an essay I had been writing essays since I was in elementary and some of my friends senior year that were just in regular classes were just about to learn how to write one. We were even pushed more to do apply for universities and colleges it felt like they had given up on the regular classes before they even had a chance to prove themselves. I never saw it as a privilege I was never grateful when I was in school I just thought that’s just the way things were I was not going through it and it was not affecting me. It wasn’t until the summer going into my senior

College is many things. It may be a new beginning, perhaps it's the next step after high school, or it could be a huge culture shock. For me it was always just the next step. I never had to worry myself about what life was going to be like after high school because I knew that I was going to be furthering my education, and going to college. Ever since I started elementary school it seems as if all I’ve been working towards is going to college. So it was always a given that I would go to college, there was no question about it. I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am to get the opportunity to go to college. Whether it’s because they couldn’t afford it, didn’t make it into a college, or just didn't want to go to school anymore. I know not everyone I come in contact with will have the same experience as me or anything close for that matter. A few things that I have really noticed so far about myself and being in college are my studying skills or lack of, my ability to pay for college/ not having a job, and my preparedness for college. These are three cultural locations that ill will be addressing throughout the paper.

Friday nights are a busy time especially when you get home after a day of serving and making sandwiches, salads and soups. My dad had just got home and he sat straight down looking tired complaining about his feet and how they were hurting. He was always so open about his college experience because he thinks it is a good lesson we should all learn about because he didn’t have a straight road to go on. He enjoys telling people about it because he feels that others can learn from him. Jeff Anderer is a German Irish American who grew up in multiple cities, such as Hackensack NJ, Goshen NY, Charleston SC and San Francisco. He only lived in those city for about three year each but moved schools frequently because of natural disasters or closures. He had an unusual college experience but never the less was excited to share his experience.

To say I enjoyed our field trip to Epic Elementary would be an understatement. I learned so much in those two hours, and I have found myself thinking about Epic a lot over the last week. Anytime I attend professional development, I try to take one idea away to try in my classroom. After leaving Epic on Wednesday, I couldn’t just pick one idea. There were so many valuable take-aways from this experience.

I am in a dark blue twelve passenger van with unfamiliar people driving off to an unfamiliar place. Behind me I see my college campus slowly disappear. My summers tends to be chaotic with changes in scenery. Arrived just yesterday and already leaving for training to lead a week-long service trip. It’s my first time as leader and the thought of it reminds me of the wiggling worms I feel in my tummy.

I take in a puff of fresh air as I stroll down the sidewalk on my way to eight o clock mathematics. I take in the last of my summer, which engulfed me in the canyons of the west and allowed me to cherish the last of my childhood, as I step into the door. I meet my professor and new friends as my first steps into the life outside my comfort zone. Throughout the day I get the first glimpse of what college is like, and, unlike my first impressions, I start to like it. I start to enjoy the days ahead of me: new friends, more free time, and, to my surprise, not as difficult as I thought college classes. The days rolled into weeks, the weeks rolled into months, and before I knew it Christmas break was at the door. By now I have gotten used to life away from home. With my feet in a firm foundation and bit of food throughout Christmas break, I’m ready to tackle the next three and half years of college. I encounter both highs and lows throughout those next few years, from sleeping in on test days to getting an A on that paper I dreaded for five months. One of the biggest highlights I have is a travel abroad trip to Alicante, Spain that I had always been dreaming about. During this trip, I try delicious seafood and earn my history credit in a whole new perspective all while getting the chance to practice my Spanish with natives. Upon my return to the States, I keep at my work in hopes to earn the biology degree. Time flies and it’s already graduation. What I thought would be a least a

Shakespeare wrote, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”. With the life I had growing up, I never thought college was an option. I was in and out of foster care until my grandparents took guardianship of me when I was 12 years old. They never really pushed college on me or even mentioned it much. None of my other family went to college, some didn’t even graduate high school. So when I finally enrolled in my first semester of college this fall, I was very excited but also very frightened. My brother, who everyone thought would be successful with college, flunked out his first semester at UCO. He’s in the Army National Guard so he says he had a hard time juggling that and school. Therefore, it worried me that I wouldn’t be able to make time to stay focused, issues in my personal life, such as my work schedule, family, and television pose a threat to my success this semester.

There have been a few places where I been uncomfortable and have noticed many people’s mindsets such as being a growth or fixed mindset. The two places I will talk about where I have been the most uncomfortable are college and on the city bus. I will talk about what I’ve heard and I what I learned about how people think and how that can affect what others think about that person.

Going to college is a whole knew experience, and it can be scary to some freshman. Going to college can be a great experience or it can not be a great experience it all depends on yourself. Going to college may mean bad eating habits, or there may be a high level of stress. Going to college may mean that it is the first time to be away from home all on your own. There are many aspects of being a freshman in college, and

A week and a half before Thanksgiving break I found myself overwhelmed in an instant after learning the sheer amount of events and work that would come up. Leading to November sixteenth and seventeenth, the deadline for all my assignments, I was given my first college research paper to due, an important essay for my connections class, a midterm for my calculus two class, and two quizzes and a test for my Japanese class, all due in the span of those two days. I additionally had individual issues around then that affected me further, they include the stress of registration, roommate issues and the knowledge that my mom would not be home for Thanksgiving due to her visiting my grandma to stay with her through the sickness. At that moment I felt a multitude of emotions, which prompt my mental breakdowns and crying consistently. I felt insufficient and futile, how would I complete this work on time and with good marks?

This college quarter passed by like in a blink of an eye, it has taught me many skills and lessons that will be important and beneficial for future quarters. While this quarter didn’t go by as smoothly as I expected it to go. It has taught me to persevere through the ups and downs and look towards the future. When I first decided to do running start I expected college to be just like high school, but with a little bit more homework and a decent amount of free time. In reality, it has been a whole different story for me with late nights spent finishing homework, writing essays and studying for exams. These past couple months haven’t been so sweet for me like they have been for others, but they have taught me many valuable skills and lessons. They have helped me get used to the college environment, taught me many responsibilities and have helped improve many English skills that I never worked on before. I have also learned first-hand on how important it is to have good time management and how open teachers are to help you if you need help. While I have improved on many skills, I haven’t completely fixed some of my old bad habits with procrastination and not doing homework.

College never really intimidated me. I always got decent enough grades, had friends, and participated in sports during my High School years. Nothing really worthy of a scholarship by any means, and my family was unfortunately not in the financial situation to send me to an out of state school. They always did everything they could for me, So my first choice (in state) was University of Denver. However, as my family lived pretty far in Boulder to be exact, I moved into the dorms on campus. That's one of the worst decisions i’ve ever come to.

“College is an experience of a lifetime they say.” That quote is definitely applicable to my experience so far, even if it hasn’t been long. I've already developed immensely as a person and I’ve only been here since August 17th, so close to two months. College is a transition like no other I’ve experienced before. I mean over the years as a student you've had to transition through various phases like from preschool to kindergarten and then middle school and from middle school to highschool, but highschool to college seems like the greatest leap. Through my time spent here I’ve already learned some valuable lessons. However the most important traits i’ve noticed about myself is that I’m starting to become independent, I’m learning how to balance different aspects of my life, and I’ve learned that education is all in my hands.