Friday, August 27, 2010

Community College Crisis

Day 2: Today was my first Friday of the school year. I have survived my  first official week of college. I go to a community college and this is my first semester going there full time. I have taken classes while I was in high school there but this is the first semester I am attending as a high school graduate. I've been going to this school for two years now, so nothing new. Yet every semester I get the excited,  first day of school feeling. Without fail, I am disappointed every single semester. No joke.

I don't know what I expect to happen, but every semester I think that somehow the vacation we had was able to magically transform the typical community college student into less of a stereotype. Let's be honest, people who go to a community college are viewed as lazy and/or dumb. I can see people's faces drop when they ask, "Are you in college?" and I reply with, "Yes, I go to name of local community college." I can see the judgment start to well up in their eyes like tears that need to be shed.

People think, "Wow that loser couldn't go to a four year university because they were either A) not smart enough or B) didn't want to move on from the delusion called high school, so they stayed in their hometown and tried to keep everything in their life the same." In my experience, the number of people who do not look down on community colleges are few.Now there are those nice people who argue that people go to community college because they have financial issues, extenuating circumstances, unsure of their goals, etc.  All of those things may be true and I have met people who are very motivated and smart, but the majority I have met have been the A) or B) I mentioned before.

To get back to my story, every semester I think the overall student body will have changed. I walked into my English class today excited for the endless possibilities that awaited my classmates and I. My wondrous hopes and dreams were then crushed by reality. Some students had been accepted into four year universities but didn't go because they decided it wasn't for them...after not even going! How do you know it's not for you if you don't even give it a shot? After all the work and stress it took to get into a college I would at least try it for a semester. Other people just didn't have the grades because all they focused on in high school was having fun. Thongs hanging out and girls who look like their faces have been hit with a glitter bomb are the lovely sights I get to see everyday. I do meet very bright and well-meaning people but the majority is the typical community college stereotype.

I'm sure you're asking yourself why I am at a community college since I am obviously very irritated by the majority of the people who attend.  You'll find out tomorrow when I do my "introduction" post. If people are going to be reading my opinions and poems then they should know a few things about me. *Dramatic music* Why is Arwen going to a community college? All will be revealed, next on...THE 365 BLOG! 

I hope your inner reading voice read that very dramatically.

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