Personal Narrative: College

Since the start of the semster I have learned many different things about myself and how I can become a better student all around. Summer classes can fly by fast and doesn’t feel like a real semester. That it is just to get credit and move on to the next semester. That was not the case for me this summer semester because I needed to think about the rest of my college career. This summer semester is my first one coming back from academic suspension and I took last semester at South Plains College and Tarrant County College. I did really well making a 3.00 GPA overall and am most likely going to make a 3.5 this semester. This will be a huge boost to my overall GPA. The point is am at the point where I am ready to graduate and will try my hardest to get the best grades I can. I really just changed my mindset towards college and the way I prepare for tests and studying.

I have defiantly not had a normal or a comfortable life. I have lived in RVs and cars on the streets of NE Portland, been homeless twice and I have left the country on multiple occasions cause of my family financial situation. As recent as two years ago I was in Central America and Southern Mexico looking for a safe and decent place to survive in. I missed a year of school. Currently, I live in a leaky, moldy, single-wide trailer home in Rockwood Neighborhood in Gresham. My parents are divorced; my dad, who I live with, is unemployed, has health issues, and has no formal education. So I provide for him and myself.

And to become a leader, I had to learn how, so I enroll in college to get a

Coming to college is hard. You have to keep your grades up through 13 years of public education. You also should obtain a car to get from point A to point B. This also requires having a job to keep the car fueled and money in your pocket to live off of. Motivation is also a tricky thing to pin down. It seems to appear when you don’t need it, and then just vanish when you need it the most. And organizational skills, what are those? These are some of the challenges I faced when deciding to go to college.

College is something that most people fear, love, or choose to not even go. I never thought during high school, I would end up going to college and that it would of turned my life around. Everyone has the dark tunnels they have to go through before they eventually find that bright light at the end of the tunnel. I was going through that dark tunnel in high school and then college ended up pulling me out and saving me.

A family sitting around a dinner table, refugees being placed into healthy environments, a house full of family and friends, these are all images I conjure up when pondering my future. I wish to begin my journey to obtaining this fantasy by pursuing college. College represents an extremely important piece to my future and to get there, I must work extra hard. I see myself attending a University to attain a masters degree in global studies. To be able to get to that point I must reach out and ask for help, the reason for applying for scholarships. After college I would like to locate a job somewhere in the south, such as Tennessee. Once I've had a few years of settling into my career, I enjoy the idea of starting a family. Yes, this does involve

When I tell people that I grew up in a small college town, they automatically assume that my entire time was spent bored out of my mind. This could not be further from the truth; there's far more to Muncie than frat houses and college football. I spent much of my childhood lost inside the stacks of the public libraries, helping out the librarians, or serving on the teen advisory board. Some of my favorite memories have been at the college; Often, Ball State invites people of influence to speak, from politicians to Holocaust survivors. Although these speakers are invited for the benefit of the college students, many of these events are open to the general public as well. The local children's museum has hundreds of exhibits on everything from

I was born on August 12th in Olympia Fields, Illinois to a family who already knew my path before I did. This family that I was born into is one that most would consider a very intelligent family. They were no strangers to getting good grades and multiple degrees and knew that I would go on to do the same, if not more. Even though I was born to teenage parents, my dad worked his hardest to finish high school and work to provide for me and my older sister and it did not stop my mom to go on to obtain her master’s degree. When the question is asked, “Did you feel prepared for college?” The answer is yes. I felt like I was prepared for college since I am a 4th generation college student

The fact that there is life after school is honestly a little terrifying. Since the age of six we have been put in school and that is all we have known, but come college graduation we are all thrown out in the real world. We are expected to immediately go out and get a job, start a family and grow up. While this thought is a little scary I am very excited to go on this journey. From college on I hope to thrive in college, become a great teacher, create a family and be financially stable.

My goal for college is to finish not only with no student loan debt, but with funds already built up to help me pay for things in the future. Currently, I am working on creating a financial plan that allows me to save for college expenses, a down payment on a future home, and a retirement fund. Trying to fund all three is difficult, but it will be well worth the effort. Although I haven’t made an exact plan, I want to work at least 30 hours a week during the summer and put 10% to tithing, 10% to retirement, and 20-30% to my future house/ emergency fund. The rest of my money will go to education and any expenses that are necessary, such as money for gas and the occasional outing with friends. I would like to figure out a good percentage to put

My college goals and aspirations include: playing as much softball as I can. My degree and carrier plan is not defiant at this time but I am leaning to pre-med & to be a trauma surgeon. I want a college that I can build lifelong friendships & mature and grow as an individual and build character to carry with me for life.

Luckily it was college and I was going to make friends very soon because the semester would be starting in a few days. Making friends and starting classes did help me because I was not so focused on being there alone anymore; I now had a family away from my family and that kept my mind busy for a while. I reminded myself on a daily to remember why I wanted to be there and who I would be disappointing if I wanted to give up.

As senior year was quickly ending, choosing the right college seemed to be the only thing on my mind. It didn’t seem surreal to me yet that making this decision needed to be done so quickly. It was so overwhelming that it was hard to know where to begin. During my senior year, I wasn’t totally set on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, there were so many different options to look at. After talking to many different employees about their job profession, nursing seemed to fit my needs of interest. Now my only set back was what college to choose. There were so many options, after touring a bunch of schools nothing felt right. It was so frustrating to me because I had no idea what to do at this point. After talking with a friend, she had me set on looking at a college called, PA College of Health Sciences.

I’m in college. To the average person, this seems like an average sentence, but to me, this means everything. I’m the first person in my family to do this. I didn’t have anyone to ask about admissions. I didn’t even have support to help me finish high school. So many of the things that the average child would have the guidance of a parent for, I didn’t have. I did things on my own. Even when it came to doing my reading homework in first grade, my mom couldn’t help me because she couldn’t read English. Nonetheless, mine isn’t a story of despair or defeat. If anything, the simple sentence “I’m in college” is an absolute achievement. All of the hardships I went through didn’t leave me as a C- on a teacher’s desk, or a foster child bounced around

This time, my dad got the house with us so it is us three together, and my dog of course. At first we saw each other a lot, but now they both work until late at night and I work and go to school, so we barely see each other anymore. We are lucky if we get to have a family dinner now. Although we may not see each other a lot, I am so glad to be a family again and have a nice house. My brother and father work very hard to pay for this house. If I wasn’t in college I would be right along with them paying for it. But for now I will work part time and go to full-time school. But when the time comes that I can get a full-time job and not worry about college I will be paying