Going to College

October 19, 2004

High school is “A place of primary instruction; an establishment for the instruction of children; as, a primary school; a common school; a grammar school.” (www.dictionary.com) In my high school days, I remember ninth through eleventh grade I always hated school and really couldn’t wait to get out. However, in twelfth grade I realized that my high school days were soon going to be done and over with. Surprisingly enough, I was upset about that. It occurred to me that I wouldn’t see all my friends as much, I wouldn’t have my own locker, and I wouldn’t have to ride a school bus. I actually miss some of these things now. I found it weird how my how outlook on school changed and I had actually thought about how I would be missing high school. In high school I attempted many jobs and volunteer work. My first job was being a hostess at Denny’s. I was there for three years, and then I moved on the being a waitress at Ponderosa. That lasted a couple months. From there I worked at NCI. That was a job I hated with a passion. I volunteered at many places too, such as General Hospital, the MDA, the Red Cross, Windsor Baptist Church and the Harpursville High School guidance office.

Growing up, I always wanted to do what my mom was doing. She worked at Kmart, I wanted to… and when she worked at Lupo’s… I wanted to. In seventh grade I found my passion for writing with the help of two English teachers, Ms. Mikoda and Mr. LeStrange. I have been writing poems and short stories ever since and I absolutely love it. Since I began writing, I have had three poems published in a worldwide poetry book, three editor’s choice awards given to me, two poems publish on an audio poetry book soundtrack, and I am currently working on my own poetry book entitled “Loves Me… Loves Me Not.” So, when I found my passion, I decided that I wanted to do that “when I grew up.” My dad is currently a journalist for his local newspaper in North Carolina and has been a journalist since before I was born. Growing up around newspaper writing, I can to the conclusion that I wanted nothing to do with being a newspaper journalist. Instead, I wanted to be a magazine writer. My main goal is to end up in New York City writing for a big magazine like CosmoGirl.

My father is the only person who went to college and graduated. He attended Oklahoma State, where he took courses to be a firefighter. My mom never went to college because the price was too costly for my grandparents at the time. My adopted sister Shannon, started at Purdue University in Indiana to be a veterinarian, but then dropped out. My half sister Christie started at BCC for nursing and still has not graduated from a high college. My closest cousin Ryan went to Albany University then ended up dropping out. Therefore, my real goal in life is to at least graduate from BCC let alone any other college.

To me, college is a privilege. Not a lot of people go to college, and some are unable to attend due to financial issues. That is why I believe those of us that can go to college and have that “luxury” should take full advantage of it. And I believe that the smartest way to a college degree is to start at a local college such as BCC, then transfer to a bigger one later. One thing my cousin Ryan said is, “I wish I went to BCC first. Maybe then I would have been more prepared for Albany.”

College is “An undergraduate division or school of a university offering courses and granting degrees in a particular field,” (www.dictionary.com) College for me is on a completely different level than high school. College is so much more independent where pass and fail is the choice of the student. High school was dependent. We all depend on our parents to be involved and our teachers to update us if we are failing or if we have missed anything. With college being so much more costly, it all helps build responsibility. And I believe that responsibility in college builds to have more responsibility outside in the “real world.”