Personal Narrative: My Move To 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.

I really enjoy doing my homework and learning but, I hate going to school to learn and get my homework. I moved to Vermont after eighth grade because my father got to move higher up at work. I don't know a lot about his job but, I didn't have a say. Back at home in Mississippi I didn't have a lot of friends. I had one named Lucy but when I told her I was going to move she said we weren't friends anymore. I'm starting high school now and I'm so scared to start over again. I love my new room the view is very pretty but, tonight I hate it because tomorrow is my first day of school.

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.

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?

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

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

In 2014 when I decided to go back to my local community college I was told that I would have to retake my math class. My goal was to pass this class and to be able to move forward in my studies. This is something that was very hard for me to complete when it was placed in front of me because it was by far my weakest subject in high school without a doubt and that was back in 2008 when it was somewhat fresh on my mind. This was now six years later and to be honest I really had no idea how I was going to complete this class. Which made me feel very defeated I felt as if there was no one for me to move forward because of the roadblock.

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.

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

Going into college, I knew that there will be an abundance of life lessons learned, but I did not ken that I would be able to absorb so much in such a short duration. This past year in college, I gained vital skills and grew stronger mentally. College is a place where everyone learns from their failures and successes, and with that, there are numerous things to learn from that. My experiences in college edified me how to work with others, communicate with professionals efficaciously, and make perdurable relationships. In addition, being away from home and living in an unfamiliar environment without my family availed me to become independent. Surviving on my own, I learned to make my bed, cook, do laundry, clean up after myself, and more. College taught me skills beyond the classroom, and it withal a leeway to becoming independent away

When I was a junior in high school I wanted to go to a four year college, however I changed my mind and I decided to go to a community college because of reasons. The first was when I came from Ethiopia I felt like I got a second chance on my life. I wasn’t a bad student back there but I wasn’t a very successful student either. I was always in the middle. Because I got second chance I wanted to use it very well. I want to do big things in my life.

Encouraged by my English teacher, one of the few teachers to ever talk to me about furthering my education, I decided to apply to college during the fall of my senior year. I was reluctant to apply at first because I was never able to envision myself being able to pursue a college education, as a high school diploma was the highest educational level any of my family members ever obtained. Throughout my entire life and time in school, I had never received any guidance on pursuing higher education. In fact, I was completely unaware of the steps I needed to take to further my education. Both my parents dropped out of school before the sixth grade, thus they could not provide any

The thought of moving to Florida nauseated me. I can't believe my fucking mom. We have the perfect life in New Jersey. Im an Honor roll student, she has a good paying job and a wonderful husband. It baffles me why she would even consider leaving. Especially in the ending of the school year. As I packed a collage of me and my friends I broke down.

As I immigrated to this country at the age of five, I knew I had to opportunity to grow up in a prominent country unlike my family. Growing up was a bit difficult because I was different. Although now, I strive of the fact of being different; as a kid I suffered trying to be similar. This idea led me to transfer primary and secondary schools’ multiple times. My childhood and teenage years were unpleasant; however, I did manage to graduate in the top of my class in high school.