Russell
August 4, 2013 My Unrealistic Expectations of College
Since graduating in 1998 I have dreamed of going to college. We lived in a small town called Corunna, Michigan with a population of around 15,000 people. This town had no college so the only choice for higher education was at least an hour away. I lived with my grandmother and grandfather and they couldn’t afford to send me away to college. After graduating I decided to move to Florida to go to college and give myself better opportunity. I have always wanted to further my education and peruse a nursing degree. I thought that moving to Florida and being in a large city would give me that opportunity. Looking back on my assumptions of what I thought college was going to be like, I realize I had some unrealistic expectations. Upon arriving to Florida I immediately had to get a job and a new place to live. So I figured I would put college off for a little bit until I was stable. I thought once I was settled I could work and go to school. I didn’t realize that it would be such a difficult task working to support myself since I had never done it before. I was working many hours and realized I couldn’t go to school and I would need to wait until I got a better job with less hours. Once again I had to put college off. Two years later, I just gotten a new job. I was only working 9:00 am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday. I had met my boyfriend and we had moved in together so it was helpful having someone else help pay the bills. I figured that this was my time, I could now go back to college. I soon after found out I was pregnant. I knew I would have to wait to go to college until after the baby was born. Obviously, after having a child I realized how difficult it was going to be working, taking care of a baby and going to college. On top of not having the time, I also didn’t have the money for someone to care for my child. I had to put school off longer. I continued putting off going to college due to having additional children and financial reasons until summer of 2013. In April of 2013, I enrolled in Seminole State College. I decided to peruse my dream of becoming a nurse. I am 33 years old now, I have a husband, three younger children, and one being a new premature baby just born in February, 2013. I figured, now or never. I was thinking in my head, that it couldn’t be too difficult, I could do it. I can take online courses and it shouldn’t take up too much of my time. I just wanted to get enrolled, go full time to get it over with. Well I enrolled into four classes my first term, and one being an “A” term. I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into at that point. I know am reaching the end of my first term in college and it has been rough. I jumped in head first thinking it would be easy, that I could take online classes for now to be able to stay home with my newborn. It has been rough. I have spent hours daily on my computer. It has taken up much more time than I had imagined. I have even had to get someone to help me care for my children. I took math online, and it seems as if I forgot everything from high school and it has been very difficult to learn online. I have had to get additional help just to make sure I can pass. I might as well just have taken math on campus as much as I have been there getting tutoring. One course I thought that would be easier on me was English I. It has proven to be more difficult than I thought. I have been working for Attorney’s for years, and I thought I was decent in grammar and writing. I had thought that this class was going to be easier, and I thought I knew how to write. I continued saying to myself, how difficult could it be? I was wrong. I have learned a lot in this class. I never did a research paper up until this point so I had no clue on how to do it. I ended up spending weeks on it. I never realized how important citation and quotation was. I have learned so much from this English course. I now can say I have wrote a research paper, I know how to properly cite research, how to format an essay properly and use quotations more efficiently. Even though I put off going to school so long, I am glad I finally decided to go. I had the misconception that college would only take up a few hours a week and it would be easier taking courses online. I think taking online classes take more dedication and time, especially since I have been needing to go to the school for testing and tutoring anyway. I have spent hours a day on my homework and studying. I thought that all the things I had learned previously would come back to me and I could start off where I left off. It is proven to be more difficult having a family, working and going to school. I wish I had went to college immediately after high school. It may have been difficult but not as difficult as it is now having a family. Going to college takes a lot of dedication, and time. Regardless of when you go it is not easy, and it is important to have realistic expectations of school and yourself.
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