I had to dig deep for this! Dig deep to figure out what big problems I faced throughout these past years. It wasn't easy for me because I faced many difficulties throughout my life. Then I remember a time in my first 2 years of high school. I was oblivious. Confuse about my future. Whether I wanted to do something after high school. I have to admit school wasn't my priority in freshman year. I wouldn't get the best grade, but they weren't the worst either. All I cared about is having friends. Then something hit me. Seeing all these seniors not graduate on time. Seeing many kids struggle financially after high school. I eventually notice that those who go to college succeed more. Especially being a minority it's extremely difficult to succeed…
I started my first year of college with my life all planned out. I had this ridicules idea that everything was going to be a piece of cake. I was going to join different clubs, do lots of research, make the dean’s list and most of all make my parents proud. Now that I really think about it what in the world was I thinking, I realized that college is an entirely different universe then high school. My GPA dropped for the first time in my life from a 3.7 in high school to a 2.8. The drop in my GPA made me hunger to go to medical school even more, before my life academic in the sense that there were no challenges or obstacles that I really faced in high school. However, when I entered college I was faced with lots of hurdles academically and emotionally that opened my eyes and made my desire burn more to obtain my goals in life.…
The reason I did not finish college back in 2004 was not only due to laziness. I got married and pregnant so I thought I would have a “really good excuse” to stop my higher education, stay at home for some years and take care of the child. My philosophy was, I would have all the time in the world, to go back and learn, however, I somehow forgot how time was running by.…
Almost immediately after receiving my final grades i decided to drop my AP classes. I also was extremely discouraged to join any clubs since i felt that disappointed in myself for not being able to get decent grades. However , with time i learned that what i was able to accomplish was actually amazing; I extremely challenged myself to-do something that was way out of my comfort zone. I acquired skills that I know will be extremely helpful to me in college. All by myself I was able to learn, how to learn the material on my own. I was able to demonstrate to myself that I do have the capability to come up with different possible solutions to obstacles that I face. I also learned that through perseverance and determination, I am able to still accomplish, at least a part of, my goals even in the toughest of…
At this point I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life after college and I didn’t even know what college I wanted to go to. I did not like the feeling of not knowing what I wanted to do as a career. It would eat at me, so I decided to just hide it away deep down until it would find its way out eventually with the right answer a year and a half later. My classes were consisting of required courses that I had no care for. Back when I was a sophomore, we were required to take chemistry in order to complete high school. My chemistry teacher was the worst. He did not care about my assignments enough to actually take his time and read through them and give me an accurate score on my assignments and tests. No matter how hard or little I tried, he would always give me a score of a D or C, Teachers like him are what cause the students to have this thought of, “No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to better myself, I am worthless in their eyes.”. That’s the message I received when I was handed a sixty percent for my semester grade in that class. That teacher didn’t care about me, he didn’t want to waste his precious time on me. Teachers like him are like the diseases in the education…
I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school were in vain. It is amazing the different prospective I know have about being a child verses an adult in school.…
I was the kind of guy who always strove in order to get the highest grades but yet hadn’t decided what to do in the future. I wasn’t worried, I knew someday I would find something in what I was good at. I got to live with that thought for some time until I got to attend middle school, where I stopped worrying about my grades and managed only to pass the subjects. I spent most of my time sleeping due to the frustration of not knowing what to do in the future. Most of my middle school experience was tasteless. I hadn’t friends at all, and teachers used to discourage their students about their future. “You're not going to college, you’ll not be able to do it because you’re poor” used to say, Mrs. Vazquez, the math teacher who instead of giving her class, talked on how much his son had accomplished in college and how we would not be able to attend. That was about to change.…
However, I ended up failing my calculus class and barely passing my economics class due to the numerous activities I was taking a part of and having to work part-time to cover my living expenses. The struggle that I had faced academically was a huge shock to me because I had been among the top ten percent students in my high school, and never once in my life did I had to take tutoring. Even though I was going to tutoring twice a week and setting more time aside to study, I still failed my exams which caused me a tremendous amount of stress. As a result, I packed up my stuff went back home to enroll at El Paso Community College to relieve the tensions of having to live by myself and to rethink of my goals about what I wanted to do in my college…
Everyone in life will have their own personal obstacles they will have to face in life. Some people will mentally shut down and give up when faced with a challenge. Others will take their challenges and use them to better themselves. The obstacles that I have faced in my life have never hit me harder than they have these past few months. This being my senior year, I always expected it to be the most laid back and relaxing year of my high school career. When in fact I set myself up for one of the biggest challenges of my life so far, by signing up for multiple online college classes, helping out with activities all over the school, and playing football for the first time since freshman year. Although, under all this immense pressure, this is where my true colors came out. I didn’t stop working to my full potential,…
After taking the Life Factors assessment, I learned that I need to be more concerned about my future academic commitment and that my reason for going back to school may be a concern. I guess it’s because I get discouraged at times. Sometimes, I sit and think of the reasons why I’m in school and how it will benefit me. I don’t want to be one of those people with two degrees, and no job, that’s scary to me. Having ample time, having a place to study, and having a solid level of resources and support were all strengths of mine. My strengths are very important when it comes to me being in school, especially an online school. It wouldn’t be easy for me to concentrate and finish my assignments without having a place that I can study without interruptions or having the necessary resources that I need to excel in my course. The support from friends and family is another strength that I feel I need to continue my education. The motivation and extra push is what keeps me going. I think reason is the life factor that I need to focus on the most. I guess I’m one of those people who believe that you can success depends on your work ethic and how much you want it rather than your education because coming from where I’m from, the most successful people are the ones who don’t have a degree. I try to be realistic because I know that in this day and time, a degree is much needed but when people ask me why I need a degree, I’m speechless. I think my reason for getting a degree is because it looks good and I’m afraid that I’ll regret it if I don’t finish. I will change my behavior by figuring out just why I want my education and focusing on the goal that I want to set. Procrastination and time management are the personality factors that I will work most to strengthen because doing things at the last minute and rushing through it is a big problem for me. It’s easier for me to work under pressure but time isn’t always on my side so I think that learning to work at a decent pace will…
I think that I challenged myself to receive good grades, and that I have done so this semester. I am eager to find out new or different things that I have some knowledge about, but I was amazed at the things I thought were right with counseling issues that I was completely wrong about. I am sure that I still have a long way to go, and many new things to learn. I feel that I was entirely invested in this class and all the assignments that were given to me. I wasn’t late on any assignments and many times had the assignment finished before it was due. I read each chapter carefully and was interested in each new thing that I found. I always want to do my very best in each class that I take. I returned back to college when I was 40 years old. This was something that I had dreamed of for many years, but was afraid to try it. I thought that I wasn’t smart enough to go back to school. I am glad that I made this decision even if it was many years after I should have done it.…
Being in the military and going on deployments made it hard to attend a traditional college so I decided to attend an online college to have flexibility with my classes. The hardest part from all of these was to start the process of school and taking the placing exams to see where I fitted in the curriculum. After taking the placing exam and seeing the score I received I felt like I would never complete school because of how behind I was. My wife was one of the people that helped me through this and keep me motivated to continue with my education. There were some days that I felt like why am I doing this, I don’t understand this and I should just stay in the military and retire and not worry about school. I faced this way of thinking for a long time especially when classes were hard or got a bad grade on a test or essay. Eventually I was able to see that going to college even if I stayed in was going to help me succeed in the military and…
College gives a freedom like nothing I had ever experienced before. I remember the first time I missed class. I was so nervous until I realized that I was in charge of myself. After that realization, I missed class for every reason imaginable. It rained this morning, its cold outside, its hot outside, I didn't do the reading and I don’t want my professor to ask me any questions. I didn’t think about how I was actually hurting myself. I…
During highschool I barely graduated, and I knew how much harder college would be. I believed with this newly found confidence, I could do it. I never really wanted to go to school, but I know that if you want a good job you need to get a degree. My mind was completely changed and I know that my parents wanted me to go to school, so I did. Since i've been going to Lane it’s been hard, but it is very rewarding to accomplish individual goals, one step at a time. I know that I made the right choice by going to…
Due to my dreams in life, and where I want to be I chose not to give up even when things are stressful at times. Giving up on my educational goals is not an option because, I know that if I don't have a degree, my life will not go anywhere, and I will just work at dead-end jobs. Not only do I want to want to go college and get a B.A. but I want to get excellent grades, and become an honor student. I'm committed to sticking with my degree and working with Monroe College to help me succeed and graduate. Having a lot of money, and time invested in my success, I can't allow quitting to be an option.…