Community college is an opportunity to work hard and receive support and guidance in education.
Ariana Davarpanah, Guest Columnist
When I tell people I’m going to a junior college, they tend to respond in one of two ways. The first is incredible: they smile, they tell me that what I’m doing is smart, mature and reasonable. To be honest, they are almost always adults. The second reaction is quite different. First, I am offered a look of confusion. Then, without hesitation, I am asked why.
At first, I didn’t mind answering the question of why. I have an overwhelming amount of reasons regarding my decision to attend CSM, and none of them are financial, related to my grades or fit the other assumptions that typically come to mind.
So back to the question of why. Why would I want to attend a junior college when I could be at a four-year?
I wonder if there’s a way to change the question of “why’”to “why not?” I’m going to a college that has an incredibly supportive faculty and diverse student body. I like the campus. I like that the people there are friendly, the class sizes are comfortable and the professors actually care about my success and well-being. And in the end, it’s a place that will allow me to work hard, grow as an individual and prepare me for the same UCs or state schools that others feel the need to attend now.
I don’t understand the stigma that surrounds community college, but I’m forced to feel its repercussions. I used to proudly talk about where I was going until I heard my classmates tell each other that the D they got on a test would land them at CSM. I don’t really know why a school that accepts everyone is labelled “dumb.” I’m proud of where I’m going. I’m happy to have had the chance to plan out my next two years, hand-pick my classes and have the opportunity to skip the dorm life, skip the social transition from high school to a four-year and focus on school.
Perhaps being an only child is the reason why living in a dorm isn’t something I’d want to do. I’m introverted enough to not feel the need for that “college experience.” I don’t feel like I need to leave the house, that I need to jump into the deep end right away.
But honestly, I’ve got 12 years of higher education in front of me, so why do these first two seem to matter so much to everyone?
For people who need more time to figure out what they want to do, community college is a viable option.
Ryan Lau, Guest Columnist
Since August, my family members have been afflicted with multiple health issues. Due to the medical bills, my family will be unable to put any money toward college expenses. If I were to attend a four-year university, I would be swamped with debt that would take the majority of my life to pay off.
So I am choosing to go to community college for monetary reasons, as many high school graduates do. For me, community college also provides the additional benefit that I would be able to be closer to my mother. After two years, I plan on transferring into the UC system.
Going to community college provides many benefits over going directly to a four-year. There are two main benefits: cost and time. Tuition is usually around $1,000 for community colleges in California, compared to $6,000 for CSUs and $12,600 for UCs. Also, some people simply aren’t ready to attend college full time at the age of 18. The two years at community college give people time to grow, mature and figure out what they want to do with their lives.
I would definitely benefit from the extra time, as I still have very little idea about who I want to be. Sometimes, students going to community college have many more options than those going to a four-year. They can learn a trade, transfer to another college or decide to just start working without much debt.
So why do some people seem ashamed to be going to community college? Well, from what I have seen, those who go to community college are considered less intelligent than those who attend a four-year university. That somehow, going to community college makes them “dumb,” failing to realize that the education that they receive is completely independent from the college they go to. I do well in most of my classes, and have even taken multiple AP classes. In the end, how well you will do in life is not determined by college — it is dependent solely on you.
That isn’t to say that community college is the right choice for everyone. There are advantages to attending a four-year school. But just like going to a community college does not guarantee a poor education, a four-year college does not guarantee a high- quality education either.
Yet time and time again, people shun community college in favor of four-year universities. Recently, a friend of mine decided to go directly a four-year college. The issue was that he did not consider community college. He brushed it off, choosing not to go because of the stigma around it. He did not even see it as a viable option, even though he does not know if the four-year will be the right choice for him. Community college would have given him more time to figure out his options, rather than making an expensive decision that he isn’t completely sure of.
Sometimes, I still hesitate when people ask me where I’m going to college. It will take a while to admit that I am going to community college, as I fear embarrassment. It is important for people to realize that community college is a viable option, and that going to a four-year school is not the only path to success. Community college is much cheaper, and can provide many more options than a traditional four year. In the end, the greatest factor in success is you.
