As a non-traditional student who went to a competitive university out of high school, dropped out with very bad grades, worked a few years and then went to a Community College where I got good grades in tough classes and then finished at Berkeley, your experience is very similar to my own.
Excellent life advice. I grieve for the days when the California community colleges were free. No FAFSA needed. On a different note -- how did you get back and forth between Berkeley and Santa Cruz with no car? Did you somehow make your way to the Diridon station and then the 17 bus over the hill? That would be brutal.
Hats off to you Darrell both for your success and the valuable advise!
While there is distinctive differences in time/life experiences within the urban to rural continuum, I will convey empirical observations from a rural small town perspective relating to the high school to CC trajectory. There is great pressure from existing social influences that can negatively affect a young person planning on attending CC in an environment whence they attended high school. The pull of social habits (i.e. pals who do not intend to pursue college because of incompetency or cynicism) can undermine the good intentions of the recent graduate. This dynamic needs to be considered very carefully in deciding next steps and decisions about furthering post high school education. Sometimes it may be that leaving one’s predictable habitat and starting fresh without the baggage of the past may be of greater benefit.
Really interesting, thank you. Saying that as a 65 year old not looking for CC tips but definitely thinking our 4-year brick and mortar college system is pretty broken. So reading about your path and advice is illuminating. And as someone who did admissions at a grad school, you're exactly right that showing a developing focus and commitment over time is important, even though there might have been confused or sputtering starts. I loved those students.
As a non-traditional student who went to a competitive university out of high school, dropped out with very bad grades, worked a few years and then went to a Community College where I got good grades in tough classes and then finished at Berkeley, your experience is very similar to my own.
Excellent life advice. I grieve for the days when the California community colleges were free. No FAFSA needed. On a different note -- how did you get back and forth between Berkeley and Santa Cruz with no car? Did you somehow make your way to the Diridon station and then the 17 bus over the hill? That would be brutal.
Hats off to you Darrell both for your success and the valuable advise!
While there is distinctive differences in time/life experiences within the urban to rural continuum, I will convey empirical observations from a rural small town perspective relating to the high school to CC trajectory. There is great pressure from existing social influences that can negatively affect a young person planning on attending CC in an environment whence they attended high school. The pull of social habits (i.e. pals who do not intend to pursue college because of incompetency or cynicism) can undermine the good intentions of the recent graduate. This dynamic needs to be considered very carefully in deciding next steps and decisions about furthering post high school education. Sometimes it may be that leaving one’s predictable habitat and starting fresh without the baggage of the past may be of greater benefit.
This is such a good article, particularly because it's so practical. I wish I knew how to share it more widely with prospective college students.
Really interesting, thank you. Saying that as a 65 year old not looking for CC tips but definitely thinking our 4-year brick and mortar college system is pretty broken. So reading about your path and advice is illuminating. And as someone who did admissions at a grad school, you're exactly right that showing a developing focus and commitment over time is important, even though there might have been confused or sputtering starts. I loved those students.
Congrats on your accomplishments and great set of advice. I’ll be sharing them around!