Personal Narrative: Getting Back To A Community College

Returning to college, after graduating high school twenty-five years earlier, proved to be not only rewarding quite challenging as well. Viewing myself as a self-starter with extensive investigative skills I truly believed college path mapped out correctly, so I never met with an advisor, what a colossal mistake! I had self-scheduled all my courses and although I faced a few obstacles I was finally at the end. After completion of all my pre-requisites I applied to the LPN-RN Fast Track Program, little did I know my past would stop me dead in my tracks.

My decision to go back to school in the fall of 2012 was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I’m a stay at home mom of 4 boys with 2 of them being special needs. My oldest was born with a rare genetic condition called hereditary spastic paraplegia and my youngest son was born with a rare condition called Dravet Syndrome that requires 24/7 care. I was at a point in my life where I had lost my identity of who I was and I wanted to be me again. I made that important decision to go back to school for myself with the fear of how I was going to do it, but I knew that it was right. It took me 3 years to complete my AS but with the support of my husband and kids I was able to receive my degree. I worked hard and was able to juggle being

I dropped out of high school my senior year. If you asked me what was going through my mind at the time I would have answered with a sarcastic response along the lines of, “I don’t plan to be alive past 25 anyway.” Here I am, at 28, alive and well. Looking backwards through time, I can easily pinpoint what moments and decisions in my life have become cemented as pivotal in my development. Dropping out of high school was one of those moments. I spent the entire senior year wasting time, and when it got towards May, I realized I had no chance of passing. I dropped out and did what you would imagine any high school drop out would do, I partied a lot. It set me down a path that I would later call my personal “Dark ages.” It was here that I found out that life is nothing like the movies and my career in high school did little to prepare to for this world. I earned my GED and would work jobs I wasn’t proud of just to make some cash. I wasn’t great at everything, but I discovered a passion of mine. I was accepted as a shift manager at a pop-up Toys R’ Us, and I was good at selling. I’d learn everything about every item in our store so I could answer any question at any moment. The key to a good sale, was investing, and investing into the person you are dealing with. If you are interested in the person, then you aren’t just handing off a product, but you are taking care of their need. I could outsell anyone in the store, on any occasion. So much so they kept me on past seasonal work

they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please

1. What experience do you like talking about the most? What has been the most interesting, intriguing, and exciting part of your life- why, and what did you learn from it?

After I graduate from Community College of Philadelphia, I plan to attend a four-year university. I want to receive my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I have a few schools to choose from. The school I am going to transfer to is Temple University. I am choosing Temple because it is close to home, it has a good accounting program, and to continue a legacy.

Ever since I was a kid I have always thought about what college I was eventually going to go to. I made the decision in high school that I wanted to be a special education teacher, so I thought about some schools that had that teaching program. My number one school I wanted to attend that had the best teaching program was East Carolina University. Having ECU as my number one choice lead me to apply there. Weeks after I applied I got a letter telling me some sad news that I was not accepted. Since I applied to ECU and did not get in, I was now thinking about applying to other schools like Methodist University or maybe a community college.

Looking back at my life to where I am now. I can honestly admit if I did not come to Community College my life would have been different. Here at community college I have made the most out of my experience I not only saved a significant amount of money but, furthermore I have grown not only with myself but with my grades as well. I struggled with a numerous of things in high school. However here at college I actually took the time to listen and observe. I have made friends and individuals that I can honestly call my family. I have taken the initiative to progress in my chosen fields.

Before my admission to Houston Community College, I was lost on how to succeed in my courses. However, my admission to this institute exposed me to different courses which educated me on different lessons on how not only to survive in college, but also how to succeed in my classwork. There are two main lessons that I wish to pass on to other students on how they can flourish in their courses.

I am a first-generation, Chicano and will soon finish my last semester before I transfer to a four year university in the upcoming fall. Coming from a first-generation household, I have had to overcome many obstacles to be in the position that I am now in. Community college has been a valuable resource that has allowed me to pursue an amazing education at a low price which has eased the burden of high tuition on my parents. Sometimes it is the cost of education that impedes those that seek it and scholarships are one avenue in which they become easier to travel down the path to success. Coming out of Gilroy High School years ago, I was unsure of what I wanted to major in and devote myself to but I had the amazing opportunity of enrolling in University of California, Merced.

Throughout High School I thought I was proficient in reading and writing in my English classes, from freshman year to senior year English classes were easy and felt I could transition my confidence to community college after graduation until I took the English assessment exam and failed in the spring of 2012. Failing my entrance exam was devastating and I refused to accept my results, I waited two academic year before I can appeal to retest my English entrance exam and after weeks of waiting I was approved to retest. After I retest the results were the same, I was placed in remedial English not only was I devastated again but I personally felt worthless. I did not know what was wrong with my reading and writing but I had no choice to enroll

Last week at East, we had students going to the community college two days in a row and a school sponsored blood drive. The county office and community college scheduled the college days for our CTE students and seniors. It was hectic to say the least and the teachers had to be flexible. Some of the drove buses, others covered classes to give our students the opportunity to visit with college representatives and local business owners. By the end of the week, I could sense there was an undercurrent of stress. The feel or pulse of the school was off and by Friday, we had several teachers absent. To show appreciation, and to help combat high staff absents on Fridays I asked for money to buy the staff ice cream and to begin Fun Friday.

After recently graduating from Fullerton College with two associate degrees in psychology, I could have not accomplished this goal all by myself without the proper guidance that I received from EOPS and FYSI at the time. These programs were established to support former foster youth at Fullerton College in their education as long as they met all the conditions for each semester. As a result, this was valuable for me during my time as a community college student, allowing me to guarantee that I would finish all my requirements on time to transfer to a good university, and becoming more involved with the campus each semester. That being said, this is one of the main reasons as to why I am applying to your program, so I could receive the support

I remember all the meetings I had during my senior year. They were all suppose to help us prepare for college. All my friends knew what careers they wanted and what they wanted to be in life. Then there was me, I had no clue what career I wanted or what interested me. Knowing that, I was scared to even apply to a college. I was able to overcome the fear of attending college by talking to my 12th grade english teacher and forcing myself to apply to college.

As of Fall 2012, I decided to withdraw completely from college because I reasoned that if I had no motivation to be in college, there is genuinely no point in taking courses. It is in my character that I should either put all of my effort into something or I shouldn’t.