Reflective Essay: Adapting To A Community College

Midway into my sophomore year of high school is when I learned that my family will be moving to Massachusetts due to my father’s job relocation. At first, I was set to move to Massachusetts with my family, which meant transferring to my third high school in three years and having to switch to a different club soccer team during the most important year of recruiting for college soccer. Then, an opportunity was presented to me in which I would be able to stay at my current high school and my current soccer team. The opportunity being that I would stay with a close family friend who attended the same school and plays for the same soccer team, but in exchange I would have to leave my mother and father for the next two years of my life. My family and I thoroughly discussed the plan and after many heated arguments and fights, we finally decided that I would stay behind and stay with the Williams family for the next two years of my life. This life changing opportunity has slowly but surely helped me transition from a child into a young adult.

UNC Charlotte has made a significant impact on my undergraduate career because this campus has an abundance of resources, a helpful staff, a diverse atmosphere, and plenty of opportunities for campus involvement. This university has a variety of staff, all of which have been helpful in my college experience. They are excellent about working with students so they can gain the most out of their educational experience. For example, when I have sought out more information on which portion of Spain to go to, so that I may improve my Spanish fluency, my professor was extremely helpful. She sat down with me and explained about what it is like living in Spain, tips for where to go, and what to expect from the different regions. This valuable information

Over the course of time, I have learned that learning is essential if you want to be successful. Whether it is about life skills or school, learning is a habit that everyone uses in a way to become successful. One of my main goals is to obtain the most out of college so that I can input what I learn in school in the outside world. Meaning that I want to learn as much as I possibly can in any course, especially in this course. I expected this course to be a review of my English class during my senior year of high school, but I extended on what I had previously learned about English. As this semester of ENG 111 ends, I can say that I have improved skills that involve grammar, structuring a paragraph with supporting details, and opening my

I want to achieve a better grasp of active versus passive voice, and the correct time to use each one. I would like to better understand basic grammar, and explore advanced grammar and sentence structure. I want to continue to write essays that I can be proud of, and that I can feel as if they were important to me personally and not just written to complete an assignment or earn a specific grade. During this first semester I have relearned and reviewed the basics of formal writing so that hopefully next semester I can reach higher, go farther and write better than I ever have

In the summer, I attended a guidance class at Chaffey College. I thought that community college was for people who drop out of high school and not take life seriously, but I got that idea from teachers who went straight to universities after high school. When I attended Chaffey, I was surprised to be in a diverse culture. The people that I have met were so different and the professors were very helpful than I expected. Suffering through the midst of exclusion taught me that there are so many options I can choose from in the future. Being a survivor from the destructive side effects of mind control was shocking enough. Fortunately, I recovered from the operation that poisoned every inch of my mind. I was glad that I attended Chaffey because

My desire was to challenge myself and pursue my belief in life-long learning. And yes, the last eight weeks have definitely been a challenge intellectually in IDS 101. After the first two weeks of school, I seriously questioned why I would go back to school at fifty-one years of age for personal satisfaction. The days were long and I wasn’t sure I still had the self-discipline and determination that would be needed to finish. Over the last eight weeks, this class gave me numerous opportunities to hone my skills in critical thinking, research, and writing. This class has given me the necessary skills to continue toward completing my degree.

During the next couple years of my life, I plan on graduating high school, and with the help of a grant, attending Clackamas community college for two years. During these two years, I will be a student and be working in order to save money for the rest of my schooling. While I am studying at Clackamas community college, I will be studying under their engineering programs in order to get a head in my Engineering career. After the two years of community college I will be attending a in-state college with an engineering program.

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.

A fork in the road only appears as such when both paths are seen as viable options; yet, once one path becomes seen as the only one, the other devolves into a deviation. Where the aberration would require justification to travel down, the perceived correct course would require justification to not travel down. This is precisely how the false question of attending college was presented to me: it was a matter of when not if. Upon inheriting white looking skin, a middle class family, and a pat on the back for bringing home white sheets of papers with little red “A”s written in the top right corner, it was ascertained that I was to be a productive and successful engineer after paying for college with hard-won scholarship money. In short, there were several socio-economic factors that contributed to my eventual position in college.

This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I

Moving away from home has been one of the biggest challenges that I have had to face so far in the eighteen years of my life. Moving from my home town to the collge dorm was a difficult transition that was necessary for growing up both mentally and physically as an individual. The little more than five hundred miles that separates me from my friends and family has allowed me to become the person I am today, and the distance allows me to grow and become more familiar with things that are a whole new experience for me. One of the many new things that I have had to deal with was making new friends in my environment.

"Tomorrow is the first day of what I will become." I wrote this in my diary the night before my first day of college. I was anxious as I imagined the stereotypical college room: intellectual students, in-depth discussions about neat stuff, and of course, a casual professor sporting the tweed jacket with leather elbows. I was also ill as I foresaw myself drowning in a murky pool of reading assignments and finals, hearing a deep, depressing voice ask "What can you do with your life?" Since then, I've settled comfortably into the college "scene" and have treated myself to the myth that I'll hear my calling someday, and that my future will introduce itself to me with a hardy handshake. I can't completely rid my

As a young black woman I have known that odds are stacked against me for most of my life, I have seen how my identity itself is a triple negative, but despite the obvious mathematical solution to a triple negative I am determined to turn it into a positive. And I believe that this summer program at Spelman can definitely help me do it. I have set myself up for succes in every way I can, including involving myself in as many leadership opportunities as possible and doing community service ever since I was in a kid. I was teaching karate two days a week in 8th grade in order to pay for my classes, chosen to be the keynote speaker at the beginning of the year convocation going in to my freshman year, first chair in my high school Wind Ensemble

The first day when we as freshman came to APU, the first time we stepped our feet in one of the most competitive campus in the world, at the same time we entered our new stage of life called APU life. Like adventuring in the new place, we always need “survival kit” so we can stand bravely to overcome various thing we will

What has my journey to graduation been like for me? My journey has been a crazy, fun-filled learning adventure. I met many goals and accomplishments I set for myself but I also faced some challenges on the way. For example, I finally met my goal of graduating with a 4.6 GPA and maintaining it. Also, I accomplished completing my last four years of grade school and now I am on the way to college. My last year has been interesting and there are many goals, accomplishments and challenges I can reflect on.