After a pause of almost 25 years, I am returning to the college classroom and to say that there are mixed emotions would be an understatement. Sure, I’m excited to start but also a bit fearful if I’m being honest. I’ve worked for large and international companies during this time but getting back to college has always been a goal of mine. No time like the present I guess!
Much to the relief of my parents, my pat answer of a professional athlete, to “What do you want to do in the future?” evaporated when evaluations indicated I had no talent. Not knowing what careers suited me, I participated in summers programs at Ithaca, Adelphi, Syracuse respectively explored Sports Management, Business, and Engineering careers and worked on my English. I had great experiences, especially at Syracuse, but was still at a loss as to a profession.
I first heard of the Trailblazer Collegiate Academy during my freshman year enrollment. The idea of taking college classes at a community college while still in high school was appealing to me because my current coursework took no effort to complete and I wanted a challenge. Once I was a sophomore, I began looking into it more seriously. If I wanted to apply for the Academy, I had a short window of time to do so. After discussing it with my counselor I learned that my classes I took with the community college would factor into my GPA at the high school level.
Healthcare and giving back to my community has always been a goal that is close to my heart. While I attended my first University, I formed a volunteer program to help the children of Prison inmates to find pen pals. I spent my High School years giving back to my community, competing and winning UIL Academic events, taking college courses and being awarded rigorous philanthropic awards to honor my achievements. When I entered High School and college, I began to actively partake in a multitude of Healthcare volunteer opportunities’ and leadership roles. Every year in High School, I was blessed with the honor of Class President and once I reached my junior year of High School, I took it upon myself to strive for bigger goals.
I graduated back in 2013 from a pretty decent school district. During high school I wasn’t an A student or a B student, I just did what I needed in order to pass. Once I got to my junior of high school I started taking things more seriously, I started making A’s and B’s. Once my senior year started the pressure was on. Everyone asking “what college are you thinking about attending?”
I can contribute my hard work to the Honors College community. I think that I am hardworking and I love to work with others to help solve problems because two heads are always better than one. I would contribute my ideas to the lessons and help others when they need it. I love to be able to work with other people outside my comfort zone and be able to hear their ideas and combine ideas to come up with something that will benefit everyone in the community.
As a student always seeking high standards in academics and influenced by pressures of family and friends, I made an assumption that community colleges was not as efficient and was a place for students that failed to find a fairly better college or university to attend to. My family has significantly influenced me and shaped my worldview into their expectations. However, this assumption is gradually altering as I have become one of those students that was rejected from those higher rank universities. I grew up in an Asian stereotype family, what can you expect from this? It has been long since I realized my family has high expectations and standards for me.
Quietly stored away in my brain are the honest and humble memories of the six years I spent serving some of the poorest nursing homes in my community and schools for handicapped children. The service group I founded put on performances for, and spent time socializing with, thousands of people with physical or mental limitations. There were countless moments when I knew I was making a difference just by taking the time to listen, or by letting someone hold my hand. Running this non-profit alone was a tremendous undertaking that absorbed hours beyond calculation. Although there were times of frustration, they paled in comparison to the solitary moments I witnessed as our group made a positive mark on one individual after another.
While preparing for college I already knew what I was going into. Coe College is roughly the same size as my high school in my hometown. To be honest, I had a grand plan to do well in college. By my senior year I would like to say I was very accomplished; In four years I became a model student and I was in leadership positions and became voted homecoming queen.
After high school, I will be going to a community college. While I’m in college, I will look for a pathway that I might like and maybe I might even study for it. After college I will transfer to university and study mechanical engineering because that’s what I want to do. I choose this path because I am interested in working with cars. It is also something i would like to do in future.
Returning to college for me was something that really came unexpectedly. I joined the military in 2008 after stopping just three credits short of my degree in Culinary Arts at the Art Institute of Ft Lauderdale. I surely thought when I joined the Army that it would be my career until retirement so college was never in the books for me. However, as fate would have it I am here today recently retired from the Army at the age of 32 and enrolled as a full-time student. Even though my return to college was not planned I am truly excited to become proficient in a new trade.
Most community college students have a life outside their school life. Some may have more priorities than others, but they still have to pay for things, manage time, and most work at least a minimum of ten hours . There are many students that don 't return for the second year at a community college for many reasons, but the main reason is that many community college students have experienced debt. Which leads to why many first time Community College students don 't return for the second year due to money issues. First, many community college students have to work several hours while going to school.
When I started high school I felt like I did not belong here. High school was very different from my middle school. Some of my teachers tried to tell me how high school was going to be like for all of us in the moment I believed them but the only advice I valued was my older brothers. “No one is really going to help you or give you direction. In fact, the odds are against you.”
Since earning my diploma at West Genesee High School, I continued my education journey to Onondaga Community College. Here I had some ups and downs like any other student their first semester at a new school. Trying to adjust from high school classes to college class. During my first semester I struggled with Calculus, I tried college hour with my professor, and the tutoring center that is offered on campus. I ending up not doing very well in the class, and took it the next semester.
Felicia Anane English Composition 1 Personal Narrative Essay 09/30/17. Attending College Nowadays people like to improve themselves in terms of education. People always learn about good or bad things that go around the world.
