My Life Of The Mill College Student

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.

As my high school career ends, I notice increasingly how much life that I have yet to live and the opportunities available to me in the years ahead. The past four years have been great preparation for my future endeavors, but college is the path leading to my full potential. In order to reach the end of this path, I utilize my most valuable trait—determination—to set short and long-term goals and achieve them. It is with this “can do” spirit—like the one my grandpa, a former Navy Seabee, evinces through his stories—that I have set my personal goals: to volunteer my time in service to others, further develop leadership skills through experiential learning, and excel at my school work no matter how challenging it may seem. Though these may

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

After barely graduating in the spring of 2017 from Lopez Early College High School, I went straight to my parent’s house not knowing exactly what I was going to do with my life. I knew I had ruined my life after not paying attention to my teachers and counselors about applying to colleges. They said I was a wonderful and intelligent student with a tremendous capacity of succeeding in life. Although everybody thought that about me, I never did. I was constantly under pressure thinking that I had to work in order to support my family economically, so our house was saved. I was also worried about whether my parents were getting divorced after every insignificant argument they had. I had to be an excellent example for my two younger siblings; but even though I tried my best, I never was.

Throughout my life as a child and teenager, I was told by my parents that they worked really hard to get to the safe town and community that we lived in. Growing up in Pacific Grove, California gave me lots opportunities that I didn’t even know I obtained. Unless it had happened to me personally, I didn’t really understand the full picture of what others had to go through. Having dyslexia, the only subject I felt I really excelled in was art. After high school, I still had no idea what I wanted to do for a career or even a major. Monterey Peninsula College has boosted my confidence by showing me that I can be and do much more. Two years ago I would never have guessed that I would be applying to the University of Washington.

Introduction: It seemed so far away, and all of a sudden I had to make the decision. A decision that would change the rest of my life. From the time I was little I knew I wanted to go to college, and here I am. I have always had the desire to continue my education and gain many experiences after I graduated from high school. I didn’t ever thing twice about continuing my education

Life is all about choices, and the one choice I knew I wanted to make was to go to college and achieve my educational goals. Knowing that my family could not support my two older sister’s college endeavors let alone mine, I knew I had to act. Throughout my high school years, I applied myself constantly through taking challenging coursework and involving myself in clubs that I was passionate for. All of those years led me to overcome the biggest obstacle a senior student

When divorce and poverty strike a household, statistics show that a student’s potential can take the hit, but these events actually taught me to leap over any kind of hurdle I face. At the same time, my parent’s divorce and the Great Recession ate up our limited savings, and I was told my future dreams were no longer realistic, so college would be out of the question. Disappointed, I kept my nose to the grindstone to prove my parents wrong, and I found that my career is only limited by my work ethic, and I could succeed no matter what I was told I could do. My work inside and outside of the classroom made me an honored student at Howell High School and a volunteer recognized by the state of Michigan’s recreation department. Just as these plans

“I’ve seen too many high school graduates who have gone off to college in September but are back home with mom and dad in December. And I’ve seen those who have made it through the first year but transferred back home to a community college for the second.” Lawrence B Schlack is a retired superintendent who strongly protests the idea that college is the only path to success and encourages students to take their time to decide whether or not they are ready to move on into the real world. In this generation, teenagers are made to think that without college, it is impossible to live a successful and prosperous life. Schlack claims that there are many paths to a successful life, and that seniors who can’t declare they are college bound are made to feel like failures. Schlack firmly supports his claims with multiple facts, examples, and statistics.

Due to the continuing increase of living it’s nearly impossible to be able to live alone. Since the demand of a higher education for better paying jobs is at an all time high trying to juggle a full-time job and returning to college is more than difficult at times. Frank, a full-time employee decided that he’d better himself by returning to college. Never considering that times have changed, he still continued to work and go to school. He stretched himself to the max; he worked late hours and then stayed up doing homework until the early morning only to have to get up and return to class to repeat the long days over. Several weeks passed, he realized that he was never going to be able to get ahead to matter how hard to tried. He was very aware that if he stopped taking classes his chances of being something in the world were even slimmer than if he continued and somehow managed to do both. Frank decided that no matter how tough these next few months were going to be he wasn’t going to let it stop him from meeting his goals.

Embedded in my psyche as a child was the fact that college was my only option after high school. This parental sentiment was synonymous with a phrase as simple as “tie your shoes.” For me, high school graduation would be a standard occurrence, but my college graduation would be celebrated. The college I would attend required thoughtful consideration because it will be my rite of passage. When I dreamt of my intended college, I knew it would be set in a beautiful city, bustling with energy, and full of consciously creative people. I didn’t know if my university campus would be urban or suburban, but I knew it would spark excitement, fulfill my need to connect with a global community, and offer several opportunities to propel me to the top of

Since I was a little girl, I always knew I had potential to do great things. I've always been good in school, but not maxed out my full potential. As I got older I learned more about what the "American Dream" is. Too many people say its money, the more money you make the better off you are. I have learned that money isn’t always the answer. The true meaning of the “American Dream is really success and happiness in any thing you do. But how do you really achieve that goal? Now a day’s education is the key to success. When I turned eight teen I made up my mind I was just going to graduate and work. I wasn't interested in college at all. I was tired

I grew up in a single-parent, low-income home outside of Santa Rosa, California. The idea of college wasn’t introduced to me until long after I had already become just another statistic. I dropped out of high school when I was 17, in the midst of a teenage rebellion, thinking I already knew everything and didn’t need anyone’s help. I left home, got a job at a fast food restaurant, and stayed with friends off and on until I realized that maybe I didn’t know everything quite yet. After a severe reality check, I found a sense of responsibility that encouraged me to get my G.E.D and find a great job. I was very determined to take everything I learned as a child and use it as a what-not-to-do guide. By the time I was 19, I bought my first house and quickly realized I could either set limitations with excuses or achieve goals with endurance. The

I have heard that someone does not have to leave everything behind to figure out his or herself, but I am not sure that is completely true. Figuring yourself out is a lifelong process, but in your adolescent years, you start with nothing. And you can’t expect to figure everything out by staying in a place you have always known. I’m in college now, and I’m yearning to know who I am more than ever. What will I be out of college? Will I be okay? What will my career be? Why am I in college in the first place? These questions haunt me, and I don’t have answers for them. I’m learning the hard way to come to terms with being uncertain. What I do know is that I love learning, I want to learn all I can, and I want to be the best person I can possibly be.

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.