Why Are You Thinking of Attending College Now?
I'm curious. . . why didn't you attend college right out of high school? Here's my story: I started college right out of high school, but ended up dropping out. There were a number of factors why. I lived in a remote town in British Columbia, Canada and there were no post-secondary opportunities available there when I graduated from high school. I ended up at a large university 400 miles from home and it was culture shock for someone from such a small place. I was used to being one of the better students in high school, and when I started classes at this university, I soon found out I was only average among these students. I was homesick, and just couldn't get myself motivated enough to do well. Not wanting to put my parents into a lot of debt when my heart just wasn't in it, I dropped out.
I married just a short time later at age 21, and had two children in quick succession at ages 22 and 24. Like many marriages undertaken at too tender of an age, my marriage ended in divorce in 1998. I was still living in that same little town, with no good job prospects and not much of an education. I worked for a year doing bookkeeping for a law firm, but I knew in my heart that it wasn't my calling. Luckily, by that time both a community college and an extension campus of a university had been started in my little town. I enrolled in the community college in Fall 1999.
Paying for college myself was a great motivator. As well, there were many other students like me who were a bit older and couldn't or didn't take the opportunity to continue their studies the first time around. We supported each other in our studies, and were also pretty competitive about getting the best grades possible. I continued attending the little college in 2000, and also enrolled in courses through the university extension. Many courses through the extension were audio or video conferenced in to us; this was great if the equipment and technology was working--but half the time it didn't.
I grew tired of the very limited course selection available and the limitations of the delivery method. I had heard many great things about Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and put in an application to attend there. At the time, GU had a program specifically for adult students that granted a 40% tuition reduction. I was accepted and packed up the family and moved to Spokane. I was more than ready this time, I had learned to concentrate and attend to my own needs. At no time did I ever neglect my family for my studies, but I will say they learned to go somethings on their own. I graduated in 2004 with a 3.70 GPA, not bad if I say so myself.
If I had it to do all over again, would I still go this route? Probably not. I'm not going to lie to you--it's a tough road to attend college while you're raising a family. If Ma and Pa are willing to pay for it the 1st time around, you'd be smart to let them (only if you're going to apply yourself diligently of course.) But I'm here to say it's not impossible to go back to college as an adult. You just have to really want it and want to be more than you've ever been, and do more than you've ever done for yourself.
That's my story; what's yours? I'd really like to know some of the reasons why my readers didn't go to college when they were younger, and why they are attending or thinking of attending college now. Are you like me, and going back after a divorce or death of a spouse? Have you been laid off in the curent economic meltdown and want to increase your job prospects? What held you back from attending back then, and what's holding you back from attending now (if anything?) Has online learning made a difference in your decision to attend college now? If you have already gone back, my readers would love to hear how you're coping, and what enables you to be successful now if you weren't "back in the day."
Thanks in advance for your repsonses.
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