College Bound: Take 3!

College Bound: Take 3!

As graduation approaches, I can’t help but think about my long, personal journey with education. During high school, I received a Bright Futures Scholarship and then I started my first semester in college. I confirmed with the counselor at the school that I had enough credits to show that I was a full-time student. (I needed to take 12 credits at the time.) So, there I am, my first semester in college and at the end of the semester, I get a notification that I was losing my Bright Futures Scholarship because I didn’t take the minimum number of credits required. I was stunned! I had gone to see everyone at the school that I was told to see prior to starting the semester and something had still gone wrong.

Since English wasn’t my first language, my reading level was a little bit slow and I had to take a prep-reading course. So, I did. Little did I know, that even though it still had the same number of credits than any other class, you don’t get a grade for the class and so it didn’t really count towards my overall number of credits. So, there went my well-deserved years of college. I was devastated. All my life, I had worked hard to be a good student and to make good grades. To get my opportunity at college and loose it after years of hard work was just plain devastating. Luckily, I was still able to finish my associate in arts degree while working 3 jobs.

After receiving that degree in General Studies in a city away from home, I didn’t know what I wanted to keep studying. I was never really interested in science, humanities, English/Writing, or any course for that matter that did matter at the time. I liked math until it got too hard for me (Pre-Calculous Algebra was my limit.) My favorite courses were dance, chorus, show choir (before it was cool), and art. Even though I enjoyed art, I wasn’t particularly good at drawing or painting or anything like that, so what was I to do with my life? Mind you, this was in the year 2002 and the digital age hadn’t completely taken over yet. There weren’t any college degrees for anything artistic other than art or theater. As I said before, I enjoyed art, but I wasn’t that good at it and I enjoyed singing but it wasn’t something that I could try and make a career out of through school, but it didn’t stop me from trying to make it in a different way.

While taking a break from school because I just didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, I ended up joining a singing and dancing group. I worked as a waitress while we tried to make it on our own, but we didn’t get very far. I also auditioned for American Idol, but I was so nervous during auditions, that I always messed up my chances of making it through to the celebrity judges. At least I was never made fun of though. That was my least favorite part to watch. I ended up getting a steadier job at a call center for a large financial firm while trying to make it in the music business, but as usual with singing groups, we split up and went our own separate ways.

After a while of not having the funds to go to a studio to record music and not having the capabilities to do it on my own, I ended up continuing to pursue my career within the financial firm and leave my singing for fun. Remember, this was at a time when technology wasn’t as accessible as it is today.

After saving for a couple of years, I decided to go back to school and get a degree in Interior Design. I was only able to take 4 classes in a year because I was working full time and then someone told me that in the field of Interior Design, your income was not going to be a steady one or I was going to have to be a salesperson at a furniture store. I certainly didn’t like either one of those ideas for me personally plus, I had run out of my saved college fund and so I finished my class for that semester and didn’t go back.

10 years passed, and I still didn’t have a 4-year college degree that I wanted. I didn’t have the finances necessary to go to school and I still didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was just unhappily coasting through life working in a cubicle. After working for the same company for almost 12 years, I was starting to hate working there day in and day out. Before I knew it, my long-term relationship was going down the drain, I was hating my job, and I still didn’t have the funds to go to school.

I ended up leaving that life behind and moved back in with family near my hometown. I was lucky enough to have family that was willing to stand me for a long period of time, though I came in handy since my niece was just a couple of years old. While searching through colleges, I came across the degree of Digital Media at Gulf Coast State College. I didn’t know much about it, but it sounded interesting to me. I was about to complete my first semester back in college after a 10-year hiatus unsure if I was even going to make it. But, the semester was over before I knew it and I had passed. I was able to get financial aid for the first time in my life as well as a scholarship and believe me when I tell you, that the process of each one of those is nothing compared to what we used to have to do. You only must complete one application for multiple scholarships. Imagine having to complete one for each scholarship that you want to apply for. I had to, and it used to take me days. Don’t take it for granted! The same goes for financial aid. It is a simple process to complete the application compared to what it used to be.

I am now in my final semester of my bachelor’s degree in Digital Media writing this article for one of my classes. I decided to share this story with you for several reasons. 1. Faculty at schools are there to help you, but they can’t guarantee what happens to you or your path. It is your responsibility to read the fine print and figure things out or confirm things on your own. Do not depend on anyone else but yourself. You are your most important advocate. 2. Please don’t ever think that you are too old to go back to school. I’m 37 and I will finally have a degree in something that I will enjoy. 3. Try not to complain about the process of things. The opportunities that you have are literally at your fingertips now and it hasn’t always been that way. Know that you are lucky to be living during such a great time. 4. If you don’t know how to do something, try to find out. Google it! Google and I are BFF’s 4 LIFE! (That’s old school paper messages talk!) Ask it whatever you want to get the information that you need and follow through. Be grateful that you don’t have to go to the library and look something up in an encyclopedia book. 5. Try to enjoy the process of going to college. Yes, it is stressful, yes, it is a lot of work, but it is certainly easier than how it used to be. I’m sure you have heard your parents say it. Things weren’t so easy for them when they were your age. It is true. Respect that. 6. You are worthy of self-improvement! You don’t have to settle! Find what you LOVE! Find your path! Be patient! It is out there! You deserve happiness! YOU ARE WORTH IT!

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