What I Learned In and Out of College: A Retrospect (Still) In Progress In September 2014, I entered my first year at UC San Diego as a Political Science major. I came in with a rather quiet and mild personality with dreams of becoming a lawyer floating around in my head. My biggest hurdle was my self-doubt and lack of confidence in my abilities. My hope for college was to graduate with a solid transcript and land a good job. Back then, I depended on other people’s perception of me and my academic success to fulfill my sense of worth. Since then, I have joined the Student Foundation, added two minors, worked two jobs, and no longer feel the same adamant need to feel validated by others. When I look at my transcripts today, it reflects my history …show more content…
in Political Science with minors in Chinese Studies and Economics. Looking through my array of classes, you might be able to slowly glean the fact that my academic studies have given me valuable experience in researching and learning about a diverse range of topics. Going through my past submissions and homework will help you understand my skills in analyzing and synthesizing large bodies of text, using statistical software, and writing to create both collaborative and individual presentations and papers that include an appellate brief, an empirical research project on immigrant incorporation, and an analysis on Western influence on Chinese fiction. Each project has sharpened my skills in critical thinking, shaped the way I convey and evaluate information, and given me the opportunity to partner and work with others. My education has given me the conceptual tools to see global affairs with an enlarged, more open …show more content…
As a student ambassador, I have been fortunate to be able to talk with local alumni of all careers and backgrounds in San Diego. I learn about their life experiences—both successes and failures—during and after UC San Diego. Each unique interview with an alumnus gave me the chance to practice and tweak my communication and rhetoric skills on a “blank slate”. Most importantly, I can widen my life prospects by comparing distinct career choices. Talking to others about the life paths they are currently on and the steps they took to get there has expanded my job outlook by extending my limits past just becoming a lawyer—but to also explore other avenues such as paralegal work, graduate school, recruiting and the consulting field, and non-profit work. While my work as an ambassador is not directly related to my field of study, as opposed to being a research assistant, it has given me a fruitful environment to network and connect with others, as well as the chance to venture outside of the college bubble to observe the impact and influence of the life decisions I will also end up
I am Nursing major and with that degree to become a Nurse Practitioner who specializes in the Cardiovascular System to reduce the rate of heart diease in America. I am a hardworking individual and I take my academics very seriously. I understand that I am at school for a purpose and know my purpose is to further my education. I am just trying to make it. My parents always told me growing up “ In order to get something you never had that I will have to do things I have never done.” No one prepared me for college, because I am a first generation college student. In addition to being a first generation college student ; I am also a first generation high school graduate. I use my my parents trials and tribulations as my motivation, because I want
Over the past few years, people have begun to see going to college as a way to achieve the American Dream through career-readiness. People used to go to college, hoping to get a better well-rounded education. For most the well-rounded education, it usually came with the courses required for a liberal arts education. The courses would provide a level of analytical and in-depth understanding that would prepare the students for both life and whichever career path chosen. No matter the amount of money paid, parents would be willing to gi...
Nathan, Rebekah. My freshman year: what a professor learned by becoming a student. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005. Print.
If interested in attending college after high school, being accepted to a “dream” college or a college of interest could end up being one of the largest milestones in a person’s life. Being accepted to that college could change a person’s life forever however, on the other hand if acceptance to the university was denied; it could result in detrimental effects on a person’s life. Although being accepted into a person’s dream college may not the maximal point in their lives’, it could cause an array of different things to occur. They would then be faced with the challenge of making the decision to attend a different university. However, another situation may transpire such as that person not being accepted to any college that they apply to, or one that doesn’t supply the inspiration that was present prior to the application of their dream college being denied. In almost any circumstance of denial to a person’s college of choice, upshots could occur that have life-long effects on a person’s life which is something most future college students would rather not have to deal with. Being admitted to a certain college is an extremely delicate process which varies from university to university which creates an ideal atmosphere for denial to a certain college if certain aspects of the student’s admittance application do not meet the universities’ requirements for admission. This is where problems begin to rise in the collegiate academic system which could prevent some future college students from getting the education they desire and being forced to settle just because they scored poorly on a single test or struggled through high school for some reason or another. Colleges rely too heavily on academic performance based upon prior knowledge ...
Zac Bissonnette, “Your College Major May Not Be as Important as You Think”. New York Times. New York Times. 03 November 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2014
My college career started with me just going to school to take PE classes while neglecting my main required core classes and always pushing them aside without any urgency to succeed in finishing school. A couple of years would go by with little to no progress and lack of motivation to succeed in finishing my college required classes. Soon landing a career oriented job and finding myself dropping out of college to focus on my work career. From this point and time I would learn the importance of school and the value of finish college through my years of experience at work. This awareness of value in finishing college would motivate me to want to go back to school. Soon I would find myself at American River College counseling center. Here I was coming back to school unsure of myself and in an environment where I previously never found success in school. After meeting with my counselor I was recommended to take a college success course. This course is part of a program called the Accelerated College Education (ACE). Because I was able to learn along the years being out of school the importance of gaining an education I gained a new motivation for school, signed up for this ACE program, and enroll in the college success
Panelist for this session included Mr. Calvin Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, Renault Ross, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist of Symantec, and Skip Spriggs the Chief of Human Resources at TIAA. The HBCU Experience: Millennial Minds Matter Hear stories and feedback of students and alumni on their take on current curriculum, experiences and readiness for the corporate arena. A vast perspective was shared on panel of Angelica Willis of North Carolina A&T State University, Mathew Reed, Student Regent of the Morgan State University Board of Regents, and Alize Beal Co-Founder of Puissance. Presidentially Speaking: Strategies for Sustaining Your Institution Learn how to financially sustain your institution in these turbulent times. Was an interesting panel which delve into the Trump presidency and the potential of unexpected opportunities and the roles of student retention.
“By 2020,” President Barak Obama issues, “America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world” (Kelly and Schneider 1). A graduating college is always questionable at least once while attending college. Students consider A decision should be made by his or her own belief, and it never should be regrettable. Most of people desire themselves to be distinct from normal and desire to be high-educated. Students in America likewise pursue higher education in order to succeed in reality. A college degree is the gateway of successes even the government is setting an ambitious goal to support students. Students should graduate college to get a degree; it is worth of reaching out in their lifetimes.
Throughout the years, I hardly believed in my capabilities in school and in achieving my ambitions. You see I am not one of those cool kids who blatantly don’t want to do anything, in fact, I was worse. When opportunities decides to knock on my doorstep, I simply decline hoping that luck doesn’t go my way. It is because I was afraid to change my status which I was already comfortable with my life. Now that I am more educated I’m seeing a different point of view, a different view of living, which is achieving great things in life and surpassing anything that may come my way. In my path towards a higher education I have passed obstacles such as injury, problems with self-esteem, and transportation.
Over the years, the importance of a college degree has become prevalent than ever. It is believed that by obtaining a college degree, a student is able to increase their net worth through the experiences they have gained through college. By obtaining a Bachelor’s degree, students are projected to have more opportunities available to them once they have completed their degree. Although a college degree comes at very high cost, students are more than willing to endure the expense in order to improve their chances of obtaining the dream job they have been dreaming of. As students are pursuing a college degree, every student has a different reason as to why they are pursuing a college degree. At the end of their journey however, students are more
My life has not always been as bright and promising as it is today; I had no idea where my life was going, or how I would possibly be able to attend college at all. Since I was a child, my self-esteem has always been low, and any time college was brought up, it simply made my confidence drop even further. I never believed I could handle college, and never thought I would even be given the opportunity to attend.
Students that graduate with degrees in one of the many fields available within this overall division are generally more than ready to enter the workfield and become successful professionals. With their exceptional critical thinking skills, outstanding communication abilities, and promising potentials, they are usually on the correct path for what they strive to reach in life as soon as they exit college. Students with degrees in the liberal arts tend to achieve great heights during their lifetimes by putting to use the valuable lessons and skills they learned throughout their college education. Liberal arts students liberate themselves, their thoughts, and their surroundings like no
When I think about what counts as learning to me, I think about my life. Just being able to live in this world to me is a learning experience, because I feel that my life is full of lessons and I believe that it takes lessons to learn in life. I feel that I have learned to understand learning more and to also understand the value of learning. As I get older I can comprehend subject matters more than I could ever do before. I am learning to be more serious and I find myself not taking life for granted anymore.
My dad never received an education past his high school degree and my mother received a two-year degree. Growing up I was always held accountable for my schoolwork and making sure it was done well. Another thing is that I have been expected to continue my education, not just because it is the “in” thing to do, but because it gives me an edge and more opportunities. I value my education very much because I have always somewhat understood the concept of money, and how much money college truly costs. I eventually want to be something in the field of finance, and my college degree that I will attain will help put me in the right
My journey as a student has always been focused on the path to college and success. Before I even set foot in kindergarten my mother, a college dropout, always told me that “honor roll wasn’t an option” and that I would be attending college in the future and achieving a degree. Most of the time I made these requirements. Most of the time I was awarded honor roll or had a newly edited list of colleges to attend, but sometimes life got in the way of my dreams of achieving success.