My Personal Experience In College Education

Imagine laying on the ground, crying, not wanting to be on this Earth anymore. Everyone has a moment in their life that affects it and changes it drastically. For me, mine was becoming a diabetic. I endured emotional damage from the teasing at home and school, as well as physical damage from my alcoholic father at home. My life long dream of being one of the few Marines died, and the stress pushed me over my limits many times.

College education has always been regarded as a national policy of every country in the world. It created an opportunity for citizens to improve the quality of life, and provide opportunities for all citizens to fulfill their dream to have a career and to be a responsible citizen in society. In the 1950s, American educators showed that college education provided for the fullest educational development for students to live morally, creatively, and effectively in a society democracy (Sloan). For the 1990s, the purpose of education was widely accepted with many purposes such as developing intellectual, serving the needs of society, creating a workforce to be effective, preparing students for a job or profession, and promoting a social or political system (Arthur). Then, in a recent online survey, performed by the Pew Research Center on June 2, 2011 at both two-year and four-year colleges, there were many differences about meaning the college education purposes. When the two-year college students were asked about the purpose of college education, forty seven percent students stated that the primary purpose of a university education was to teach the skills and knowledge; thirty nine percent students said it helped students develop personality and intellectuality; the remaining students said that both tasks were equally important. Meanwhile, the four-year students participating survey showed that seventy four percent students said that their college education was very helpful for

certain problems came my way I was able to brush them off and push them to the side, Loosing my mother had changed me in so many ways emotionally and physically. My stress level was high

I experienced illness when my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. The most devastating aspect of this experience was when we had to make a choice as a family on how we were going

When my parents got a divorce, not only were their lives affected, but more importantly the lives of my sister and I. My life was a complicated puzzle after that. The negative effects the divorce had on my sister and I were crucial. I had to quickly adapt to all the changes that came my way. My sister and I were damaged both mentally and emotionally.

The instrument was handed out at the beginning of the College Life class period and required approximately 15 minutes to complete. I read the instructions to the students and advised them to answer as truthfully as possible. Additionally, I explained to the students that completion of the survey was voluntary and would in no way affect their grades. Upon completion, all students handed their survey back to me who then maintained possession of the

For those who attended college will say that their best years of their lives were in college, while others say otherwise. So far, my SU experience has been a blast so far, but with four years still coming ahead, there is a myriad of matters that I want to do before I graduate. As noted by Barack Obama Howard University commencement speech “Change is the effort of committed citizens who hitch their wagons to something bigger than themselves and fight for every day.” (Obama, 6), I will make use of my time for the purpose of changing the world for the better. Some of these topics that I want to do are participating in classes or majoring in another topic, traveling abroad to possibly a developing country, working at a major or a little company as an intern, finding myself and developing my people/leadership skills, and growing my skills of cooking. Hopefully, my college years will be the best moments of my life and during these times I would develop these lifelong skills for the future.

A college education for a member of a typical low income Mexican family is not an ideal pathway for most individuals. Often we don’t have a clue about the significance of a college education as we are born into a working class family where our parents work from dusk till dawn performing low paying jobs in efforts to meet ends need. However, for this exact reason I am motivated to pursue a college education. Ever since I was young, my parents told me that an education is a powerful tool. It is a tool that can be used in shaping my community. These words have had tremendous impact on my life, not because they were coming from my parents, but from individuals who did not attend high school due to lack of resources. Since then, I made it my goal

Kyle Laffin is seen as a typical mid 20’s American. He attended college to pursue a degree in accounting and financial freedom, but this came at a cost which he didn’t imagine. He took out a loan with his dad as a co-signer of a little over $100,000. Even though he got an accounting job directly out of college, he is now stuck paying back a monthly loan payment of $1,200 when he only makes $40,000 a year. This has forced his father to make payment since he cosigned the loan. His father began working two jobs and was forced to take money out of his retirement account just to be able to make those excruciating monthly payments (Woodruff).

Kyle Laffin is seen ias a typical mid 20’s American. He attended college to pursue a degree in accounting and financial freedom, but this came at a cost which he didn’t imagine. He took out a loan with his father as a cosigner for a little over $100,000. Even though he got an accounting job directly out of college, he is now stuck paying back a monthly loan payment of $1,200, when he only makes $3,333 a month before taxes. This has forced his father to make payments since he cosigned the loan. His father began working two jobs and was forced to take money out of his retirement account just to be able to make those excruciating monthly payments (Woodruff).

“Today is finally the day,” I thought with butterflies in my stomach as I hopped into my car and trekked forty miles to The University of Massachusetts Boston. Everyone’s first day as a college student is daunting and the nerves were definitely high that day. I was no longer attending a high school of a little over five hundred students, but rather a university with a total undergraduate enrollment of over twenty-two thousand students. This day was the start of a new chapter in my life and the University introduced entirely new opportunities for me to explore. Since the first day here, I have been submersed in a culturally diverse community that has challenged and allowed me to gain a new perspective of this world. The University of Massachusetts Boston is more than a school that I attend to gain a degree; it is a place where I continually learn and grow. I quickly fell in love with UMass Boston and only a few weeks into attending, found myself referring to it as my school. During my first year I was able to meet new people through my freshman success community and eventually form new friendships. Everything seemed to fall into place and my worries disappeared, but more personal challenge arose as the year continued on.

I must admit that the thought of going off to college for the first time, made me a little bit nervous. Would my roommate and I get along, would I make new friends, would I find my way around campus, get to the right classrooms, and grades? Some of my most memorable moments have been meeting my roommate and making new friends. Not only have I met a number of new friends in the dorm, but also in my classes. Together, my new friends and I were soon able to find our way around campus and to the classrooms. College life has been such a great experience, because of all of the new friends that I have made, along with the independence it has created in me.

There have been a few places where I been uncomfortable and have noticed many people’s mindsets such as being a growth or fixed mindset. The two places I will talk about where I have been the most uncomfortable are college and on the city bus. I will talk about what I’ve heard and I what I learned about how people think and how that can affect what others think about that person.

Last weekend, as my final task in this 27-day journal reflection, my mother had given me on the hardest task that surprising made me rethink everything I've come to known. She had asked me to send in my university applications. At first, when she told me that she wanted to get it done before Monday, I thought I was going to need another task to write about in my reflection on Wednesday, I already knew what programs I want to go into. I had no doubts about what I wanted to do, what schools offered the best program, where I live on campus, how much everything cost... I had done all my research since grade 11. I was physically ready to submit my applications. But I wasn't prepared psychologically and emotionally. Not even close. As I sat there looking at my laptop screen, I questioned everything that I thought I knew and I had let my insecurities come to surface to make my decisions. I end up switching back and forward between doing nursing and not becoming an OBGYN but do prenatal/neonatal nursing or sticking with doing health science and probably move out of Canada to go to medical school (a lot easier overseas than here). I even thought about changing majors completely and go into women studies and not pursue a career in science at all. I had seemed to lose all self-confidence that had for two years, in a matter of ten minutes. I rationing to do is to talk to others who are in university right now-- which I did. I ending up calling my aunt, my two brothers, my uncle, my

I feel that I have grown exponentially my first semester at UMD. Reading the letter I wrote to myself at the beginning of the semester, I realized that I didn’t have anything extraordinary to say to myself. The person I have evolved into over the past months is a lot more aware of the future and how the actions I make truly do affect those around me. Also, academically, I have learned about the educational system, the life around us, and how to relieve stress in my life. I can apply this knowledge my life and teach others about what I have learned. I am so blessed to have received an outstanding education.