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College Life Essay I knew when I graduated from high school a new beginning was ahead of me. College was the only thing that was important to me because I knew that I would have to get a good education to get a good job to start a great career. I would have never expected myself to bounce from a community college to a vocational school back to a community college. There are so many choices of colleges and how their short term programs can really help the potential student. The truth of the matter is that there aren’t any short cuts in life, but how are these schools still standing. I was accepted into 3 universities to continue my post secondary education. I made my finally decision as to which one I was planning on attending, Norfolk State University in Norfolk Virginia. There was only one small problem; I was raised by a single mother so there wasn’t any money set aside for my college education. When this was brought to my attention it was too late to apply for scholarships and grants. However I did apply for financial aid but I didn’t qualify because according to the government my mother made to much money for me to get free money. So I did what any other determined person would do, enroll in community college, and work part-time for one year and then go away to school for the rest of my education. When I went to enroll in my first community college, Daley, I took a placement test to see what level I would be at for my general courses like English, Math and so forth. Once I received my results I was instructed to see a counselor and register for fall classes. The counselor that I saw wasn’t even a real counselor; she was a remedial English teacher who barley new the course catalog, but I trusted her input and enrolled in the recommended courses that I wouldn’t even need for my major at the time. When I finished my first semester at Daley my GPA was good for a freshman, but I didn’t save enough money to continue my education there. That’s when I moved to the south suburbs and started at South Suburban College. I attended South Suburban for a total of two semesters maintaining a GPA of 3. 2. I saved some money from the two jobs that I worked but that was barely enough for me to attend 1 semester at NSU. My mother was willing to help me out but she still had my little brother to raise. That was when I kept seeing ads for ITT Technical Institute. The ads simple said that I can graduate with an Associate’s Degree within two years or a Bachelor’s in three years. The commercial also stated that they will find employment for me and I can come back as an alumnus to take any course refreshers if needed to. I thought to myself, that is where I need to be attending as soon as the next semester starts. When I went to enroll I just knew that I would qualify for financial aid because I have been living on my own for almost two years, but once again I was declined and the school suggested that I take out a student loan, the school also said that I will need a co-signer since I don’t have any credit established. My mind was made up and I was going to attend this school, so I asked my mom of course to co-sign for me. She really didn’t trust this schools credibility, but she saw how important it meant to me so she applied along with my husband now, boyfriend at the time. I got my loans for school, totaling 60k for two years, enrolled and started in the fall of 2004. I went through my program for 2 years and received an Associate’s in Computer Electronics and Engineering Technology. When I graduated the school had jobs waiting for me but they had nothing to do with what I just spent the last two years of my life studying for.