My Life Journey and Where I Am Today

College is a time in life where students attain a sense of the real world and commence a new road to independence. Despite the alluring effects of a college education, many high school students have yet to decide whether or not college is worth paying for.  As time progresses, colleges are raising their demand on finances in return for a person to become acquainted with the intellectual properties for their desired career choice. Due to this dilemma, numerous teenagers have been dropping out of high school believing that college is unnecessary in order to find a job immediately. The progressive increase of financial gain in colleges have also raised some concern to the group of people that do wish to attend college, but cannot afford to obtain such prerequisite. While some may claim that college is not a valuable coming of age experience due to a personal conviction in which a college education is not able to fulfill one's goals, or appease prior expectations, college is able to be considered as a valuable coming of age experience nonetheless. The reasoning behind this is that a college experience allows an individual to discover their ambitions for the future and provide knowledge of who they are, while additionally providing a sense of purpose to their life in the future by transforming them into a more prosperous person.

What made me the person that I am today? My mother plays a big role on this topic. I have developed into a smart, hardworking young lady because my mom has never stopped pushing me to be a better person. I learned at a young age how to work for everything that I have now. This includes getting a job at age 16. If it wasn’t for my mother, I would have never attended college. If it wasn’t for my mother raising the twenty-year old lady I am today, I would not know how to get through the life successfully. I am independent because of my mother. As a matter of fact, the name “Emily” means industrious and striving. I take pride in these characteristics because they describe me perfectly. I grew up with my family in Houston, Texas but I settled in

College, The doorway to the future. Many things can happen during this phase of one’s life, well known for exposing peoples “true personalities” through its multiple hardships and adventure. One thing to be said about college is that it is one of the most stressful times of a person life. In College pressures, an article written by William Zinsser, the head master of Bradford College, states that the amount of pressure placed on college students is heavy and that is unintentionally been cause by their own self-doubt. I am interested in the essay because although it was written in the 70’s I know for a fact that many college students can truly relate to this essay in more than one way. I, personally, relate because I would be the first in my family to complete college with more than just an associate’s degree and it is a lot of pressure but, unlike the people in this essay, I know very well how to handle the pressure, but I do know many who are friends and in college right now who cannot handle the pressure and are failing under the pressure. In William Zinsser’s article, he simply explains how the unstable economy we live in is distracting us from adventuring out into uncharted territory. Simply because, in our up bringing our parents emphasized the importance of stability and the suggestion of striving for more realistic jobs. It also stresses the influence of peers have on one’s personal experience and opinion on where he or she should be academically causing exhaustion

College is an opportunity to truly discover who you are. Often enough, you hear people saying “You should really major in this field, I think you would really enjoy this career.” or, “Do you think you really want to study that? Have you thought about what you will be doing ten years from now?” filling your mind with self doubt, uncertainty, and the anxiousness of not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life. Mark Edmundson wrote an article titled, Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?, published in Oxford American addressing college students and their families how the most important thing college students should focus on is personal growth. When students take their courses seriously their engagement can help finding out who they really are and which future career will lead not necessarily to great financial success, but to a career and life that is very satisfying. Edmundson wants to inspire his audience and have them take what he is saying seriously. Edmundson uses satirical informal language and hypothetical situations to effectively persuade college students to focus on their personal growth in order to create a life and career that is deeply fulfilling.

College is an important place that can lead us to a bright and successful future. College success is more than academics; for us it’s learning how to become an adult for the first time in our life. In college we will develop skills to have relationships with professors, counselors, and with our peers. The whole college experience enables us to truly succeed. Meeting new people, becoming acquainted to different ideas and cultures, and mostly, the enjoyment of the four plus years of being in school. A couple of years from now we will look back at college as either one of the best or worst times of our lives. The one thing that motivates people to go to college is “career

Nine years ago, I never could have imagined I’d be writing this essay. I was a senior in high school, and, like the rest of my classmates, I was apprehensive about the future. Unlike my classmates, I felt like I had missed the proverbial “you need to get your life together” message. I watched my classmates apply to colleges, their majors already decided and their future careers mapped out. While I was an above average student, I felt I lacked the decisiveness my classmates seemed to have. I did not feel passionate about a career or even a field of study. I felt defective. This was compounded by the financial strain I knew attending college would have on my family. It seemed wasteful to try to “find my passion” at school while squandering

Although in the past four years at Roanoke Valley Early College (RVEC) I have grumbled about how long I have been in the program and mentioned being ready to graduate almost everyday, writing this paper almost feels like a farewell. A bittersweet moment that I can safely say I deserve because of how hard I worked towards seeing this year all come together. The best way to describe is stunning. I would almost always hear any and everyone say that senior year comes up fast and I now know that they were not joking even a little. During my time at Roanoke Valley Early College I have evolved into a person that I am proud to call myself through my internship, staff members, career aspirations, and individual improvement.

Outline your Personal Narrative What one event has shaped you into who you are today?

When I was younger, I thought as an adult you had to be successful in everything you did to be happy. When I got older I realized you can learn about yourself through trial and error and it’s okay to be unsure. Nobody knows for sure what the future will hold, but the things we do today can affect us later on.

As soon as I got to high school, everyone started asking me what I wanted to do after high school and what my goals were. What high school freshman knows what they want to do with their life? Very few, and I wasn’t one of them. I always knew that I would probably do something in the health field, partly because that’s what my dad did, but also because I’ve always had a heart for helping people, especially children. It wasn’t, however, until Junior year when I got my first job that I knew what I wanted to pursue as a career. Now before I go into what that career choice is and why, there is something which the reader must understand. My dad went to college and got his Master’s degree, my mom only had her high school diploma. Both of my parents agreed that all of their children should go to college, so for me the question wasn’t “should I go to college?”, but rather, “where should I go, what should I do, and how will I stay out of debt?”

Sophomore year in high school had greater demand on my time and made me realize about my future more than my freshman year. Time management has been a theme I was constantly reminded with academic and extracurricular activities. Furthermore, the realization of entering college and pursuing a career is closer than before. These two factors have transformed my outlook of my junior year.

My goals and ambition drove me to go back to college. So I could better myself for the sake of my children. I need a good and stable career so I will be able to give my kids exactly what they need emotionally, physically, and financially. My goal is to become a Health Care Administration Manager. It’s a goal that I have always wanted to accomplish and now I am able to do that thanks to Ashworth College. They are giving me a second chance towards my

For many, after graduating high school the next big step is college. I never asked myself why or if I even wanted to. Yet, since I was not yet ready to join the work force, and didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I simply followed the path that I was supposed to take. For a while I had no direction, but through the loss of my high school English teacher and my dream of making my family proud, I discovered that college was the place I wanted and needed to be.

As a very small child I don’t remember too much, but the things that I do remember were seen through a child’s eyes that has made me the person that I am today and I will always have those memory’s with me until my last breath on this earth. In this essay I intend to show how my childhood and adult life to this point has influenced my life, my journey. By utilizing the adult development theories from this class I also intend on showing how they relate to my Life experiences and where I am today as an Adult student.

Now that I am reaching the end of my undergraduate career I feel like it’s fit to reflect on how far i’ve come and some high and low points during this time of my life. Some people may say that these four years of college are the most wonderful times of their life, and for the most part that is correct. But there is this whole other part of college life that is super stressful and even scary. During this paper I will address my personal development and how certain experiences played a role in those developments. Even though I feel like i’ve grown a lot and have developed and learned new things, I have run into some issues. Those issues being family/culture, social and emotional growth, intellectual growth, values and beliefs, citizen and community member.