The Student News Site of Central Oregon Community College

The Broadside

The Student News Site of Central Oregon Community College

The Broadside

The Student News Site of Central Oregon Community College

The Broadside

Nothing wrong with going slow

Whitney Beyer
The Broadside

Do you ever feel inferior for going to a community college?

Whenever I run into someone I went to high school with, it’s the same thing. They ask me what I’ve been up to and where I’m going to school; then I explain how I took a year off and now I’m up at COCC taking classes.

And then it comes: the look.

The response in conjunction with the look is always something along the lines of ‘You’re going to a community college?’

The look frequents my direction much more than I’d like it to. This probably has much to do with the fact that I was one of those kids everyone thought was going to graduate high school, go straight to an out-of-state fouryear university, and then walk out of college and straight into my dream job with a six-figure starting salary.

Do you know anyone who has graduated from college recently and is now using the degree he or she went to school for in a steady, well-paying work situation?

Most recent university grads I know worked their butts off for a degree (at a hefty price) and are now working part-time jobs at coffee shops and local resorts to pay off student loans.

So really, who is the smart one?

In an economy like this, frugality is key. It is also important to remember that our current economic situation doesn’t really allow the same opportunities to be presented to college graduates that it did a few decades ago.

More importantly, we’re wise to be patient. How do we know for sure what it is we want to do with our lives? Here and now, we can explore different areas of study that might lead us down a completely different path than we had previously planned for – all at an affordable price.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be that student that took her time, really figured out what she wanted to do, got her degree, and actually put it to use. Oh, and even better, I’d rather be that college graduate who doesn’t have to wait tables to pay off mounds of student loans because she jumped the gun.

You may contact Whitney Beyer at [email protected]

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