Personal Narrative: My Decision To Go Back To School

Returning to college, after graduating high school twenty-five years earlier, proved to be not only rewarding quite challenging as well. Viewing myself as a self-starter with extensive investigative skills I truly believed college path mapped out correctly, so I never met with an advisor, what a colossal mistake! I had self-scheduled all my courses and although I faced a few obstacles I was finally at the end. After completion of all my pre-requisites I applied to the LPN-RN Fast Track Program, little did I know my past would stop me dead in my tracks.

One of the proudest accomplishments of my life was receiving my bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. As I approached the stage, I put one foot in front of the other and tried my hardest not to stumble. The crowd roared loudly, I could see Knightro dancing in the corner, it was my turn. In the three seconds that I walked across the stage, I felt a plethora of emotion but most of all… I felt fear because on the other side of the platform was the rest of my life. Unfortunately, my “life after graduation” plan was short-lived, as I found it very difficult to find employment within the first three months of graduating.

I started to work as a waitress at very young age. I stopped receiving education because my grades at school were not good and studying seemed to be boring. Working in my twenties appeared to be more adventurous and full of promises. As the time passed by, my routine at work turned out to be a nuisance. I was feeling empty inside without knowing the reason. As my level of expertise in the catering business was growing, the idea of starting up a restaurant on my own was beginning to take shape. I believed to know how to handle a business but I was missing all the technicalities. Getting back to school was a good alternative though I did not feel ready.

Coming back to school after being away for 17 years has been one of the most emotionally taxing endeavors I've experienced. My career experience was working in the quality control field. Being apart of the industry was very satisfying until the point in which the 2008 recession hit. Having to go through the uncertainty of being laid off and the frustration of trying to reenter the work force with only a high school diploma brought into focus that I needed to finish the bachelor degree I had started. While attempting to find gainful employment I took the opportunity to begin the process of transferring to a school here in California. I had originally started my degree in Lincoln, Nebraska, but moved out to California with my significant other.

Returning to college has been a prodigious challenge. One in which I determined I would meet head on with resolution. As a fine arts student I was fortunate to find a mentor in the Paradise Valley Community College Theater Director, Andrea Robertson. Andrea perceived potential in me and encouraged pursuit my goals as a writer/director. I took the initiative to approach Andrea with the idea to write and direct my own play in the Advanced Directing course. This past fall that idea came into fruition. As a director I oversaw numerous different areas in the production of my play. These were roles filled by fellow students, allowing the opportunity to provide guidance and leadership to peers. I worked with actors, stage management, set design, prop

It is pretty cool that you had the same teacher for three years and that you liked her. It is nice to be reminded that there are teachers who care so much about their students and it is sweet that she wrote you letters over summer break. She is definitely a teacher that leaves a memorable impression on her students. It is too bad that college was a lot more difficult than you expected, but congratulations on deciding to go back and finish. I honestly do not know if I would be able to go back to school after stopping, however, maybe after discovering that I need an education in order to move up in my career then possibly my opinion would be different. I agree that this program is a lot of work, yet there is no doubt that it pays off.

It’s never too late. These are words I whole heartedly believe. A year and a half ago I decided to go back school to study nursing. Coincidentally, a week after I enrolled in classes I found out I was ten weeks pregnant. As any woman would I had my doubts about whether I could handle going to school and now being pregnant. But then I thought, I now had even more of a reason to go back. I would soon have a child who would be looking up to me. I wanted to be able to set a good example for them. I started attending classes in the fall as a part time student. Considering I had not been in school for over ten years the transition was a lot easier than I had thought it would be. My teachers were nice as well as my classmates. I finished a semester

I always believed that things would just work out in the end. That I did not need to be wrapped up in over complicated situations because they would unravel themselves. I had this idea that I would grow up, go to college, and then get a job. My older brother Joseph had a similar idea. He started at the University of Dayton in August of 2015, but decided to come back home to our house in Bucks County at the end of October in 2015. His simple decision of “college wasn’t for me” had single handedly ripped me from my cozy reality that “everything works out” and had pitted my family against one another.

I made the personal choice to come back to school, based on an injury; that happened in winter of, 2015-2016. It was a decision that was made because of talking to a University I wanted to go to. I was told, it was my best route to return to Halton to upgrade my marks, and apply when I finish my upgrading. The decision was also made on something I thought I wanted to do a long time ago, back in high school. In high school, I went a different path in college, and with the injury, I was able to return to the path I wanted to take. Plus I learned, I now have the maturity and, confidence to go into the program, I originally wanted. Plus some of my past education brought me back to this path for success.

One day, I was getting ready to start school back and I got a phone call from the school. The school said from now on school is going to be one and half hours longer a day. I started freaking out and thinking about how much later I'll get home and stuff. I told my mom and dad I didn't want it to happen and they said it will be okay and I thought to myself how I might get school over with early.

Making that first step to complete independence isn’t always easy. Being the first person in my family to ever attend college, I knew I was travelling into uncharted territory, one where I wasn't sure what to expect. My dad, a concrete worker, my mom an esthetician both came from very little and never had the chance to attend college. Both of my brothers decided against college and went to work for my father in the concrete business. For this reason, I was a little bit hesitant to venture too far from my home my first year. What if something went wrong? What if I couldn’t do it? I am happy I stayed home and attended Daemen my freshman year, because it opened my eyes to a great deal of things, and helped me find what I want to do with the rest of my life. Since I was little I always knew I wanted a career that involved helping people, especially children. The first semester of my freshman year I took a class called “Healthcare Studies

My life began 14 years ago on September 22, 2000 at about 1:30 pm at Mesquite Medical Center. I weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 inches long. I have a sister who is 6 years older than me and is currently attending Stephen F. Austin for her 3rd year. When I was born, I had little blue spots on my body, but the most noticeable one is on my finger, it has grown as I have gotten older. My dad also has these mysterious spots and has been to many dermatologists to try and figure out what they are but no doctor knows exactly what to call them.

High school, the outcome of your previous middle school years. Also, the so called best years of one’s life. High school being the best years of my life is highly questionable, but them being an add on from middle school fits perfectly, an unimaginable nightmare. Some people, who experience the same best years as I, can choose to drop out of high school. Then, there's people like me who seems to be the highschool everyone wants to drop out from.

I am most looking forward to taking new and exciting classes that broaden my view of the world. Of course, I also can’t wait to meet new people, and have the “freshmen experience”, but after being in high school these past four years, I can’t wait to crack the shell. Having to wake up at 6:30 A.M. every morning, and then take six classes back-to-back can be exhausting and suffocating. There is a constant schedule in which there are classes that nearly all high school students in the country take. Independence is limited and finding yourself can be hard. In college, I hope to be able to take classes that are only offered at Emory, or at least just a class that makes me think. This I pray will help me discover me and also the world around me.

For many students they would leave school in a good mood with bright, beautiful smiles on their faces, but for me it wasn’t always like that. Mostly every week at school would end in such a terrible way. Either me getting in trouble with the school, my parents or the police would come and talk to me. This day, however, was nothing like the others. I left school with so many questions like, Why did she say yes? How did I gather enough courage to do that? Was it the right time? Is she the one? I walked out of the gates with all these questions in my head, with the biggest smile on my face, happy as a clam.