ENGL000: Pre-College English

I was a C and D (and sometimes F) student all through grade and high school. As I got older, people talked about college, but I assumed that college was only for smart people who got good grades. I hated school and counted down the days till when I could graduate. With my bad grades and low test scores, I only barely managed to graduate on time, and when I did finally get out of high school, I was just grateful to be done and hoped to never attend any kind of school again. However, after being out of school for five years, I ultimately made the decision to start college because my life was going nowhere; I needed to prove myself to people who think I can't succeed; and my girlfriend, Lakeisha, encouraged me. 

First of all, my life was going nowhere and I needed a plan for my future. For one thing, I was working at McDonalds and hated it. I only made minimum wage and I had no consistency in my work schedule. Some weeks I would get thirty-eight hours while others, I would only get twenty. As a result, I have been unable to move out from my parents' house or move forward in my life. In addition, the work is incredibly unpleasant. Customers are rude and my clothes always stink of fryer grease. Worst of all, this job has no potential for growth. There is no opportunity for promotion and if I didn't figure something else out, I fear I would spend my entire life flipping burgers and running a cash register. Another way my life was going nowhere was how I spent my free time. With no goals or real obligations, it was easy to just spend all my non-working hours getting drunk with friends. Prior to starting college, I didn't have anything to work toward.

A second reason I decided to start college was that I needed to prove the people who think I can't succeed wrong. When I was in high school, my guidance counselor actually told me that due to my learning disabilities, I needed to keep my goals "realistic". For a long time, I interpreted that to mean that I shouldn't bother having goals and I allowed what she said to act as an excuse. At some point here in the last year, I started rethinking that response and started to get angry at her, deciding that I should prove her wrong. In addition to my counselor, my father has often expressed his disappointment in me. For example, just last week, I got home at 3am after a long night of drinking and my father shook his head and said, "When I look at my son, all I can see is a loser going nowhere with his life". I want to prove him wrong and make him proud of me. Worst of all, I have allowed negativity to convince me that it just isn't worth it to even try because I will inevitably fail. I made the decision to attend college to prove to myself that my counselor and father are wrong.

While needing a plan for my life and proving people wrong have been important, the biggest reason I started college was the encouragement of my girlfriend, Lakeisha. For one thing, she has been incredibly motivated and inspiring to me in her own studies. She graduated last spring with her Associate's degree in childhood development, and she just started on her Bachelor's degree in primary education with the goal of eventually becoming a kindergarten teacher. She has the same learning disability I do and though her Associate's degree took an extra semester to complete, she graduated with a 3.1 average. In addition, she promised me that she would help me with my classes and assignments. For example, just last week, she went over an essay I wrote for my English class and gave me some ideas regarding how to better organize my points. Lastly, I was worried about the cost of college, and Lakeisha has really helped me. She showed me a great scholarship and grant website and assisted me with an application that resulted in a $1000 grant to help me pay my tuition. She also loaned me $200 for my textbooks this semester. I don't think I would have been able to make this decision to start college if it hadn't been for her encouragement and support.

I am really happy about being a college student and working toward creating goals for myself. Needing a plan for my life, proving wrong the people who have told me I can't succeed, and the support of my amazing girlfriend have all led to my decision to go to college. I know that I can do this and am excited about what the future holds!