Personal Statement: I Want To Pursue A College Degree

Throughout high school, students are told over and over how they need to go to college. Some students decide to go to college and some don’t. I will be honest, I didn’t want to attend college at all after high school. Mostly because I didn’t like school, and I was tired of hearing everyone tell me I needed to go, so I rebelled and didn’t enroll in any college. I didn’t understand the importance of a college degree at that time. After getting married in 2013, I began to realize what a mistake I made. We struggle from day-to-day, because I don’t make enough at my job. I can’t move higher up in the “career ladder”, because I didn’t take the opportunity to earn a degree.

Nine years ago, I never could have imagined I’d be writing this essay. I was a senior in high school, and, like the rest of my classmates, I was apprehensive about the future. Unlike my classmates, I felt like I had missed the proverbial “you need to get your life together” message. I watched my classmates apply to colleges, their majors already decided and their future careers mapped out. While I was an above average student, I felt I lacked the decisiveness my classmates seemed to have. I did not feel passionate about a career or even a field of study. I felt defective. This was compounded by the financial strain I knew attending college would have on my family. It seemed wasteful to try to “find my passion” at school while squandering

Everyone has something that drives them to succeed every day. Some people feel a need to compete with others around them while others feel they need to make their families proud. For me there are two major factors that encourages me to try my best. One is to show my parents that everything they have done for me has not been a waste and the other is my curiosity.

When I was young I had not any educational goals. My father had not graduated from high school and I don’t remember him (or my mother) ever mentioning me going to college. And, as mentioned previously he spent my $3,000 life’s savings which would have put me through the University of Arizona. I was ambivalent about going to college when I graduated from high school, but I signed up in large part to stay out of the military and Vietnam. I had an interest in aviation and in making things so I signed up for Aerospace engineering. At that point I was working 20-25 hours a week to be able to afford the next semester’s tuition, gas for the Hillman, and occasional nights out which didn’t help my studies.

I am not trying to achieve anyone else's ideal of success, but my own. As an American, from a young age, we are brainwashed in the idea that we can achieve anything we set our minds to. Easier said than done. Attaining a college or professional degree is society’s guideline to becoming successful. We are not taught the cost of following our dreams. We are not taught that success should be personal and not institutional. Well, at least I wasn’t taught these things. We are basically doing well in school, to be successful enough to pay off school. My first two years of high school were not the best academically, and now I am working harder than ever to conceal those years. I can not remove those years, but I can show improvement. I am trying to the best of my abilities to maintain my grades, get great test scores, become a better dancer and overall be a conscientious, productive, socially aware citizen. Unconsciously, my whole life I have been conforming to society's definition of successful in one way or another. However, I have came to the conclusion that society's idea of successful is quite similar to

Being back in school has me very excited. When I sat down with my boss to let him know about my decision to return to school he was also very excited. I have been apart of a management training program at my work for the past two years the program has opened doors for me to advance in my career with my company. I am in a position now that without completing my degree, I will not be able to continue to progress the way that I want to, so my boss was very supportive of my decision to pursue this journey with Bethel. My family especially my wife are backing me one hundred percent. My wife has been pushing me for a few years now to start back to school and finish out my degree because, she knows I am very goal oriented and that I want to keep climbing the corporate ladder. I have found in the last couple of weeks of class that it is easier to wait to do my class work after my wife and I get the kids in bed, that way I still get to spend quality time with my family after the work day, and can focus totally on school when the house is quiet. As far as friends go they too are supporting me. I have a couple of close friends that have obtained there degree with Bethel online and they have given me nothing but positive feedback.

Going into college, I expect many challenges. The biggest challenge I expect is all of the environmental changes. For eight years now, I’ve been attending Julia R. Masterman School. For eight years, I’ve seen the same people, at the same place, every single day. Every day, I’ve woken up to the same daily routine. I wake up, go to school, come home, eat, sleep, and then repeat. Usually, there’s someone to wake me or feed me, but in college, there won’t be. Ultimately, I’ll be responsible for myself and everything single thing that involves me.

“If you want to continue your education, you should go to the local community college like everyone else here and be a teacher, daycare worker, or nurse. You really cannot afford anything else, and why would you want to leave home?” These are the general comments I heard when the time arrived for me to decide my future after high-school. As if to the echo their words, I was rejected at big name colleges and waitlisted at the out-of-state college I would eventually attend. With my mom being a single mother and I as a McDonald’s employee, it was also true that my family could not afford the price tag of an expensive college. Following the path expected of me would have been easier, but I wanted to see another side of the world and experience something new. This is why I left my hometown to attend a liberal arts college where I knew no one and would make a fresh start. However, striving to be an individual in a society imposing conformation and perfection has been the greatest obstacle I have had to overcome.

"It does not matter the road you take, or how long it takes you to reach your goal, it only matter that you reach it in the end." (-Anonymous) I start my morning off with this quote daily. To me, it represents who I am on so many levels and why I want to be a nurse. I have not always wanted to pursue a nursing degree. I have always known the medical field was my passion, but I often thought I was needed in other areas. I can look back now at the paths I have gone down and can see how each path God used to show me where I truly needed to be.

Some love Mozart. Others prefer The Beatles, Johnny Cash, or Eminem. For me, however, the most beautiful sound in the world is a basketball dribbling on an old, wooden gym floor.

College is a privilege that everyone should get the chance to achieve. Many people do not get the chance to go to college and achieve their dreams. I am one of the few students who has had to chance to live out my dream of going to college and taking one step closer to the life of adulthood. My major is Management and marketing, and I plan on perusing a great career in business as soon as I graduate. In 5 years I see my self graduated and moving out of state or even country to fulfill my dream of working in a top rated business and being able to travel the world. This scholarship will greatly help me with this not only dream but goal of mine. Wearing glasses, is what I have worn my whole life and I would not have been able to see and do the

During my senior year in high school, I experienced the unfortunate event of my parents splitting. My father stayed in Washington to attend my graduation ceremony, but announced to my family that shortly after he would be moving to Las Vegas. I intended to immediately work towards a degree in mechanical engineering, a career I’ve had my eyes set on since I was a child, but there was an essential role I needed to fill. As a result of my father’s absence, my mother worked two eight hour jobs as a waitress, leaving my younger brother void of any parental figure. Graduating high school was a bittersweet milestone, having known that I am one step closer to pursuing my career, but faced with the harsh reality that the time wasn’t right.

I'm a persistent, hard working individual who is strong in my academics based on my high GPA. I currently balance school work and a demanding part time job in a supermarket. My intended major is Mathematics and my minor is Secondary Education. My career goal is to become a successful math teacher. My intended major and minor will help me prepare for graduate school after I get my Bachelor's Degree. Additionally, I'm confident that my recent fieldwork experiences in a middle school and high school has given me the foundations of becoming a highly skilled teacher. In fact, I'll be taking graduate courses as an undergraduate student in advance before taking classes for my Master's Degree. I know the skills that I already have and the skills that

I’m at the age now where every adult I meet insists on asking if I know what I want to do with my life. The answer is no. While college and careers may be closer than ever, I do not believe that grades should be prioritized over being an honest person, and I certainly do not think that integrity should ever be sacrificed for something far more trivial and, ultimately, insignificant as being accepted to a school with a five versus fifteen percent acceptance rate. I think, also, that not knowing is ok. The Ivy League to Goldman Sachs to marriage between the ages of 28 and 32 to the first child to a house with a low stone wall in the suburbs to the second child and maybe the third and possibly a lab and a cat along the way will not make everyone happy. I do not equate success with a list of achievements, and I refuse to let the name of a university on a t-shirt define me. I never want to introduce myself as a graduate of such-and-such school, because that is not who I am, and it’s not what’s important, either. I haven’t always felt this way, though. I imagine that many, somewhere along the way, at least once, are forced to reprioritize. I have felt this urge twice. The first was when I witnessed my first death, and the second was last year, at no specific time. In the span of my sophomore year of high school, I realized that I am not as clever as I seemed to myself during my formative adolescence. Nor am I better or worse than my classmates who get lower or higher

I attended college in my mid-twenties while working full-time to continue helping my parents financially. Unfortunately, while I thoroughly enjoyed my college learning experience, graduating with a degree in Art History did not open very many doors in the way of well-paying jobs. I continued to struggle financially into my late twenties and early thirties working in the service industry and teaching yoga full-time. I experienced an inability to get ahead of even the bare necessity bills with my employment situation. Attempting career changes at multiple junctions, I was faced with potential employers who did not see my educational background or work experience sufficient for employment in their field.