Return To School: Personal Narrative

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.

Coming to school every day as a tenth grader was exciting, but it can get very annoying at times. I had to overcome many challenges to make it this far. Generally, freshman year was a year of change. One of the greatest things I learned as I reached sophomore year, was not to procrastinate.

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.

Coming back to school after being away for 17 years has been one of the most emotionally taxing endeavors I've experienced. My career experience was working in the quality control field. Being apart of the industry was very satisfying until the point in which the 2008 recession hit. Having to go through the uncertainty of being laid off and the frustration of trying to reenter the work force with only a high school diploma brought into focus that I needed to finish the bachelor degree I had started. While attempting to find gainful employment I took the opportunity to begin the process of transferring to a school here in California. I had originally started my degree in Lincoln, Nebraska, but moved out to California with my significant other.

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

It is pretty cool that you had the same teacher for three years and that you liked her. It is nice to be reminded that there are teachers who care so much about their students and it is sweet that she wrote you letters over summer break. She is definitely a teacher that leaves a memorable impression on her students. It is too bad that college was a lot more difficult than you expected, but congratulations on deciding to go back and finish. I honestly do not know if I would be able to go back to school after stopping, however, maybe after discovering that I need an education in order to move up in my career then possibly my opinion would be different. I agree that this program is a lot of work, yet there is no doubt that it pays off.

The hum of fans, the spinning of the disk in its tray. Sitting on my soccer ball beanbag chair that I got for my 11th birthday with a controller in my hands. As a kid, in Washington state, on school days we were not allowed to play video games during the week. Summer was the break from school and the time for lots and I mean lots of video games.  Before I could hit that power button, I had to do something I despised, hated, and avoided like it was the plague. I… had… to… read.

After sitting at the same desk for three years, I figured I was beyond seeing anything new. I was wrong. After that third year I saw a lot more than I thought I would. I went up to high school and everything was so much different. The grades were harder, the assignments were harder and the teachers were harder.

It all started on a Friday the day I got off for spring break. I had just got home from school and I had went up to my room to get on my IPad and texting my friends to hang out with some friends. Then, around 4:00 my parents had come up to my room all happy and excited to tell me the greatest news ever. Then, they say, “We are moving to Findlay.” At first, I thought they were joking, but then they keep saying they were not joking about anything and I really just didn’t know what to say about this. I started to ask why we would ever move away and they said “your father got a job transfer.” Then I started to think about it and I just didn’t want to do this at all. Then for the rest of the day I just sat up in my room trying not to think about

I think we should all have a chance to go to school and be professionals and study what we want to. There is a lot of people that didn’t get a chance to go to college after high school for personal reasons. They should have programs that help kids to finish school. With money living and other things sometimes financial aid it’s not enough so most of them are forced to work and they end up not going to school. Now there parents and they have to work to pay for house and food and other things. Half of my friends didn’t go to college after they graduated high school, and some of them didn’t even finish high school.

“Vandi, what was it like coming to America?” I looked up to see my friend Carson staring at me intently, his eyes big blue eyes full of wonder, his blonde hair shining under fluorescent lighting. Suddenly, I was self conscious about my dark skin and eyes.

Returning to school is a big step and an even bigger decision. So many things have thrown me off in going to college. Between deaths, finances, and work, I never thought about having the time for it. I have put off college for almost 2 years now, which is entirely too long for me. I have decided to go to college at this juncture in my life because of personal, emotional reasons, and to better my education.

I was given a life sentence at the age of seventeen. Since I was a freshman in highschool I have had plans to attend college after high school. I realized that I was an average student but I always tried hard in school hoping to one day impress the admissions board of a college I hoped to attend. I took classes in highschool that were completely out of my comfort zone in hopes to figure out what I would do with my life after high school. During junior year I was put into a web design class that submerged me into what seemed like another universe, the cyber world. I even learned a new language, program coding and how to design websites. I was fascinated and I would spend hours on end learning this new language. Soon I decided that I wanted to

“BEEP, BEEP, BEEP”! As soon as I heard my alarm, I then realized it was time for me to get up and moving. It was 6am and I was extremely tired. Because of going to sleep around 2am, I felt the need to lie back down just for five minutes. The time was awfully going by slow, because I kept checking the time to see if the minutes were up yet. As the time went by, those minutes were up and I then decided to get up and moving to get ready for school.

The sound of pages flipping and pen's clicking filled the classroom like if it were a symphony, wow! I cannot believe I'm back in school again. Who would have ever thought that I would make an effort to continue my education, since I was very much satisfied with the life I had beforehand. I worked a full time job, making good money compared to my peers at school and I had freedom. Now I'm sitting in a classroom for several hours busting my brain once again and I'm not getting paid for it. As I'm studying for a test, I asked myself, "Is this really worth it?"