Personal Narrative: Life After 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.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Throughout my life I have been asked this complicated question over and over. How can anyone decide what she wants to do for the rest of her life after high school? Previous to me entering high school, I was convinced I would be entering the criminal justice field. I had everything planned out, but things usually do not turned out as planned. It wasn't until I was entering my Senior year of high school did I realize I couldn't be more wrong with what I wanted to accomplish with the rest of my life. After learning more about myself and my interests did I change my plan to studying business throughout my upcoming college years.

One of the proudest accomplishments of my life was receiving my bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. As I approached the stage, I put one foot in front of the other and tried my hardest not to stumble. The crowd roared loudly, I could see Knightro dancing in the corner, it was my turn. In the three seconds that I walked across the stage, I felt a plethora of emotion but most of all… I felt fear because on the other side of the platform was the rest of my life. Unfortunately, my “life after graduation” plan was short-lived, as I found it very difficult to find employment within the first three months of graduating.

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.

Lauren Rivera continues to look at different forms in which individuals get differentiated when it comes to getting the job. She specifically looked at the whole hiring decisions. When it comes to hiring employees, studies have shown the weight of the interview process is relied more heavily than the resume. Meeting the candidates becomes important because there are other factors that arises. Factors such as an increases in the quantity of applications and the fact that resumes do not show the candidate's ability on job performance.

Returning to college has been a prodigious challenge. One in which I determined I would meet head on with resolution. As a fine arts student I was fortunate to find a mentor in the Paradise Valley Community College Theater Director, Andrea Robertson. Andrea perceived potential in me and encouraged pursuit my goals as a writer/director. I took the initiative to approach Andrea with the idea to write and direct my own play in the Advanced Directing course. This past fall that idea came into fruition. As a director I oversaw numerous different areas in the production of my play. These were roles filled by fellow students, allowing the opportunity to provide guidance and leadership to peers. I worked with actors, stage management, set design, prop

"I'm so glad we can finally move into an actual house than an apartment." Kyle Sapienti, soon to be Stump, smiled and said. He traced the date on the calendar behind Patrick. September ninth, two thousand fifteen. Kyle moved away from it then grabbed the last bag of his from the apartment and packed it into his car. Patrick was taking Kyle's car with him because his car was already at the new house.

Looking back at my high school years I would say it was not easy. I was not the person I am today, I was careless and dull. I wasn't concerned about my standards or entity. The start of high school is the most critical year that will set your GPA for the future. Raising your GPA will not be an easy thing to do. As for me I had started out with a moderate GPA, but throughout the rest of my high school years I had to work very hard to bring it back up.

When I was five years old, all of my friends were starting Kindergarten. My mom was trying to decide if I would be too; so I told her I was going too. I think that was the beginning of being outspoken and saying what I thought.

Promotion When going in for a job interview, most likely there will be others who are applying and interviewing for the same job. As a result, a good resume, appearance, and ability to communicate is key when trying to make a good first impression and get the job. In some cases, companies will not care how good a resume is, how well a person is dressed, or even how well a person may speak. An employer may only be concerned with the race of the interviewee, and may deny him or her the job simply because of his or her race.

During the summer between my sophomore nad junior years in highschool, I had attempted to switch homes from my dad's in South Dakota to my mom's in Texas. The transition would went smoothly if it hadn't been for my dad not wanting me to move. We had to go to court to fight for custody over a legal adult, and even afterwards I had to worry about him coming to my school to take me, which he has accomplished before. So when I finally started my Junior year I was feeling terrified. I would eat my lunches with my teachers and some had storage rooms that I was allowed access to if the time ever come to hide. Finally, everyone calmed down once we had confirmation that he was back in South Dakota and school returned to a sort of normalise.

I look back at how I write. I actually changed my way after I get into college. When I was in high school, we don’t have writing class, the writing is combined with Chinese class. So we might just take 2 or 3 times writing class each semester. In the writing class, teacher taught us how to write, how to generate our idea. But except writing class we are asked for write, the only writing we need to do is for the exam. In the writing class, I would give some time to think about what I’m going to write, maybe I would write a outline. But for the exam, I don’t have time to do that. The writing part take 40 percent of the grade, but the time we got is depend on how fast we can finish the other parts of the exam. When I finish other parts of the

Whenever I go grocery shopping with my father, I can always guarantee two things: awkward stares and double-takes. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I’ll get the well-intentioned stranger asking if I’m adopted. You see, my father is Caucasian whereas I am half-white and half-Asian, but I am the spitting image of my mother. Most of my father’s similarities lie in our personalities, where we both enjoy sampling new cuisines, exchanging terrible puns, and listening to the rich purr of V8 engines. The only physical attribute he has given me: my fingers.

Most employers are looking for people with knowledge in specific backgrounds, and most of the time, knowing how to flip a hamburger or push a button on a machine is not going to get you into the high paying job that you are looking for.

The best way to make yourself stand out is to be the applicant who is most familiar and most invested in the company before you’ve even been in for an interview. That doesn’t just mean