Like many of you, I’m sure, I attended a high school that pushed the name brand universities. As I sat in my guidance counselor’s office my junior year, I panned the white-washed brick walls: Harvard, Penn State, Boston University, Boston College, Rutgers, Northeastern, Steven’s Institute of Technology, NYU. My choices? Pace University, University of Texas at Austin, Montclair State University, Hofstra University. Community college wasn’t even an option. Fast forward 2 years and here I am typing this in my room at home in New Jersey while all of my friends are packing up and heading back to college. I’m not a Texas Longhorn or a Pace University Setter, but I am a Bergen Community College Bulldog, and although sometimes I wish I were independently flouncing around a beautiful campus, I’m grateful I am. But, I do wish my high school informed me more about the road less traveled.
I understand that the reality of the commuter life is not all that glamourous. Us commuters don’t get to come home all hours of the night without disturbing our family’s sleep. We don’t get to party when we promise our parents we’re studying. We don’t get to feel that independence while we walk down the streets of a new city: seeing new buildings and trying new restaurants with friends. But when we realize that this reality is a better option for us, we will accept all that community college has to offer with open arms.
What some call the “13th grade” others call “the best decision they’ve ever made.” Did you enjoy that rhyme? Of course you did because everyone needs a break from the serious, and seemingly depressing, topic of attending a college in your county every once in a while, no need to thank me! Anyway back to business, community college is a great way to figure out who you are, both in and outside of the classroom, without the heavy weight of an expensive tuition and large student loan debt on your shoulders. Sarah Gomez, 19, attends Bergen Community, and chose it simply because she knew she had just enough money to graduate from BCC without any loans. She has big aspirations to continue onto law school after graduation, and feels that Bergen Community has given her the independence to do so. With 992 public colleges, 96 independent, and 35 tribal, 750,400 Associate degrees went to students just like you and me between the years of 2012-2013. Over 750,000 people who saved thousands of dollars and got the same education as however many other thousands going to a 4-year but paying an astronomical price, if only they were as money-concious as we are.
But who is to say its their fault? Maybe those thousands blowing an unthinkable amount of money at a 4-year weren’t informed of the luxurious reality of the community college life! Hint, hint, I’m writing this for you too. Personally, my guidance counselor never recommended community college to me. She recommended colleges that were too expensive to financially back for a family who had already put two kids through college, but failed to mention that community college would more affordable, and that there was even an opportunity for me to attend for free. She shot down some of my top schools due to my GPA, a 3.0, but failed to mention that my local community college accepted students with a GPA as low as 2.0. I know a multitude of alumni whose schools decided not to include community college in their informational college brochures and packets, and all I can ask myself is, “why not?” I’ve come to the conclusion that the more students from a high school that go to community college, the less notoriety that high school gets for producing future Harvard law students, or Columbia grads. But it shouldn’t be about the high schools! It should be about us: the students! The ones who slave over study guides and computer screens and decreasing bank accounts!
Although most high schools stray away from encouraging us to attend our local community college, I managed to find a few students who discovered this option on their own; Alex Saras, 20, also attends BCC, where she intends to increase her GPA. Although she yearned for the typical “college lifestyle,” Alex knew she would ultimately be getting the same education at her local community college, while saving a lot of money in the process. Ethan Lopez, 19, attending Community College of Morris, had dreams of living out his college career at Pace University in the city. Ethan attended for a year but as he “became more accustomed to the daily atmosphere,” he started to realize that he didn’t fit well there. He finds the atmosphere for CCM more relaxing because of the common motivation all the students have in eventually moving onto a 4-year university. Ethan enjoys being surrounded by like-minded people, and the flexibility that his community college provides him. Jackie Preisler, 22, attended BCC for a year because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. Taking different classes at BCC helped her sort out her likes from her dislikes, and her weakness from her strong suits. She’s now studying to be a teacher, and she hopes to teach her students life lessons along with the basic math, science, and history. Jackie believes that there needs to be more passionate teachers who care about the wellbeing of their students.
Sarah, Ethan, and Jackie all agreed that their high schools pushed their students towards name brand universities more than anything. Natalie Salomone, 19, currently attending Greenville Tech College in South Carolina, concurs that her high school wasn’t keen on introducing her to what community college had to offer. She felt degraded by school officials, but after moving to South Carolina, her community college set her up in a program that partners with Clemson in a pre-engineering program. Natalie will join the Clemson Tigers in two years. Alex is envied by those who wish they made the same decision she did by attending her local community college.
Whether you choose to attend community college on your own, or you attend because it could benefit you in the future, it is a smart choice! So when you’re sitting in your junior meeting in high school and have no idea what you want to do with your life, you’re at a university that you aren’t happy with, or you just can’t scrape together enough money for tuition, despite what your high school tells you, community college IS a viable option. Don’t let your high school fool you, the some of the world’s most successful people graduated from community college: Steve Jobs, Morgan Freeman, Queen Latifah, Walt Disney, Halle Berry, Clint Eastwood, George Lucas.
