Personal Narrative: The First Two Years Of My College Career

All high school students are typically looking for the same thing in every college. An institution that will help them to start a successful career while preparing them for life after college. Yes, these things are highly important, but I believe a college experience is more than that. I want a school that I can befit from during the four years I am there. A school that has a lot to offer for its students and once they attend, it will prove to them that they made the right chose. Simon Fraser University is undoubtedly that school.

Before creating my collage, I sat down and brainstormed a list of the areas where I felt challenged during my first year of college. After I wrote down my struggles, I thought about my friends who I know are going through college or university with certain challenges. I talked with some of them about what their most significant stressor was during their first year of college/university. Once I had my list complete I went through magazines and searched online to find photos to represent all of the challenges.

As each day comes closer to the start of college, the question becomes how will I survive the 4 years of college? How will I avoid being part of those who drop out? How will I pay my gap? How will I pay my college books, fees, etc.

Going to college has been a dream of mine ever since I entered High School. I have worked rigorously throughout high school with the hopes that my grades would get me into a good college/university. However, I did not realize that getting into a college was not going to be the only obstacle, affording it was going to be the biggest.

Throughout the rigorous society of college I’ve managed to grow and mature immensely. My first two years of college were less than perfect, but as the years went on I became better. College, like anything else in life is not easy—it is about hard work and life lessons. Sometimes, life lessons are slow in the teaching process—but you will always learn, no matter how long it takes. My grades throughout my time at New York Institute of Technology have grown like myself. I’ve transitioned from receiving horrific calculus grades to smile-worthy calculus grades—from Ds to taking both calculus 1 and 2 in the same semester, and receiving As. Additionally, I was lucky enough to take both biomedical research 1 and 2 at the same time. I was lucky enough

I didn’t really get into writing until my senior year. I had always been in Honors English (you know, the class for all the smart kids who were at a high school reading level in second grade). I had this teach for Honors 11, Ms. Mason, the coolest woman I’ve ever met in my life. My junior year wasn’t super good for me, but she encouraged me to keep trying and take her AP Lang class next year. We focused a lot on non-fiction research writing and I loved it. My senior year I also took creative writing with Mr. Day. Worst decision ever. Not only was the class chock full of freshman and seniors who don’t care, but Mr. Day was the type of person who graded you on how much you wrote like him. If he didn’t like your writing style (and he hated mine)

At the start of my freshman year at the University of California - Santa Cruz I was immensely scared. I came out of Deer Valley High School with a Grade Point Average of 3.33 and a weighted GPA of 3.47. The reason this intimidated me was because the average GPA at UCSC was 3.88. However, instead of feeling that I did not belong in the school, I used that as motivation to show my peers that I am not only on the same tier as them but even above. I ended up with a 3.66 my first quarter and a 4.0 my next two quarters while holding two

As I reflect on my Sophomore year of College I am so very thankful for all the support I was given throughout this year and in my entire life. This year alone I served on the Executive Board for Spotlight, was an active member of Chapel Assistants, became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Alpha Chapter,I am currently studying abroad in Oaxaca Mexico, and landed an internship with TheGrio in New York City upon my return! OH and did I mention that I ended the year with a 3.8.... None of this would of been possible without a village supporting...

Obtaining my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration has been a vision of mine since I began my journey years ago; however, as life continued to get in the way, the dream I had seem to diminish. When I made the verdict to go to college I was straight out of high school and wasn’t equipped for it. Nonetheless, I was able to keep afloat I believe that you must condition yourself for the transition to college. Being a single mother I was in a continuous state of “mom mode” if you will and let my schooling be seated on the back burner for a while. Later on, I thought, enough was enough and went back only to have to leave once again to find a full-time job supporting a family of 4 when my father passed away from cancer. It was misfortunate,

First, I’ll begin with that fact the I have almost made it! Indeed, my first semester in graduate school was a challenge. I have definitely learned so much in the last 16 weeks. Initially, I was not aware of how helpful this course would be. So much of the information provided in this course was not initiative. There were many things along the way that I had not yet given much consideration. To begin, my career plan was in some ways too specific and in other ways too general. My original career plan was to pursue a Master’s program, which I am currently doing, and then, a doctoral program in hopes of becoming a clinical health psychologist. Another part of my plan was to continue conducting research related to sexually transmitted infections and health behaviors among minority populations. Before this course, I did not have a back up plan. Fast forward to the end of this semester, I now have given my back up plan some thought. During my last spring semester, I will begin looking for jobs that will hire someone with my degree. At the same time, I will also begin making sure I have the appropriate paperwork completed. I intend to reach out to Meagan Philips for

My first year at CCU will be a great time for me and a new learning experience one I never had

I completed 2 years of high school in Georgia and my last 2 years in Wisconsin. I took advanced placement courses at both schools and that helped tremendously in preparing me for college level courses. Unfortunately I was not part of any other college prep programs at either schools. My school in Georgia, Berkmar High, was predominantly students of color. The majority were African American and Latino students. There were 800 students in my class while my graduating class at West High was 500 students. When I first attended West, I struggled to integrate and it took a while for me to come to terms with relocating. Afterwards, I did everything in my power to prepare myself for

My Freshman Year was the toughest year of my high school career. It was the year when I gave up on everything. I was placed into classes which I believe that I did not belong in. I was influenced by the people Gender: Female Hispanic/Latino? Yes A-G Subject Requirements A preliminary tally of your validated coursework shows you need the following additional yearlong courses to fulfill the "ag" subject requirements. History/Social Sciences: 0 English: 0 Mathematics: 0 Laboratory Science: 0 Language Other Than English: 0 Visual and Performing Arts: 0 College-Prep Electives: 0 around me. I was surrounded by older people who didn't care and had no life. Especially my older sisters, I would ditched with them because I felt like I had to, because they were my

Growing up I lived with my mom and grandparents. My dad left before I was even born, so my mom was stuck paying the bills of my everyday life. I struggled in school a lot with the fact that everyone around me had a dad, but I didn’t. As time grew on the expenses just kept piling up and I was blaming myself for my dad leaving when truthfully it wasn’t mine or my mom’s fault at all.

Mere days into my college search, I realized that what I was looking for was something of a paradox. I immediately fell in love with small classes, scenic campuses, and tight-knit communities. Even as I realized my affinity for liberal arts schools, I was drawn to larger research universities touting hundreds of extracurriculars and research opportunities and a bustling, vibrant community. I knew I needed a school that married the two - and, initially, I was convinced that no such hybrid existed.