A few weeks ago, I ran into an old friend from high school. A few days after that encounter, I ran into another friend from high school. It's always amazing how you feel when you run into old friends. There are some people you get very excited to see, and others you get this feeling in the pit of your stomach and in all honesty, you may try to dodge them from seeing you. For most people that I have met (post high school) it's a time in their life they want to forget. And seeing someone from your past can bring up some uneasy feelings that you thought you had buried.
The reason I bring this up is because seeing two of these people (one from each 'category'), I began to run through in my head what high school was like for me. I tried to remember my teachers, how they taught, the environment, etc. A lot of my high school teachers were very strict about assignments and due dates and making sure they made NO exceptions, because they were trying to prepare us for the "real world" and for college.
The reason I bring this up is because seeing two of these people (one from each 'category'), I began to run through in my head what high school was like for me. I tried to remember my teachers, how they taught, the environment, etc. A lot of my high school teachers were very strict about assignments and due dates and making sure they made NO exceptions, because they were trying to prepare us for the "real world" and for college.
Because of how we were being "prepared", I didn't want to go to college anymore. Of course I had ambitions and I DID want to go to college, but I was expecting that it would not be the experience I had always dreamed it would be. Not after those experiences...
I may not be where I thought I would be when I was 16, but I'm happy to see where I am today. I'm in college, and in a short number of years I will have obtained two adult education diplomas. The exact same outcome as if I had gone off to college right after graduation.
The differences between high school and Granite State College are numerous! In high school you can become invisible. Very few people know your name, interests, etc. At this Concord, NH college campus, you walk in the front door and you are greeted by your first name! (Side note: I mention Granite State College's Concord, NH college campus because it's my "home base." I go there a great deal, even though I take classes sometimes at the Manchester, NH college campus).
In high school, no exceptions were made; here at GSC, teachers will work with you and they understand that life happens. Many students who I have taken classes with have demanding jobs and/or children.
These adult accelerated degree programs are very different from high school. Of course there are always exceptions, but my guess is that these programs work because everyone there has the same goal: to make life better for us. That includes fellow students, and it also includes the faculty. Hazing and bullying don't go on at college (or at least this one). This is the one place you will always look back on as a positive experience. It's a second chance for people (or third, or fourth...).
In many years down the road you run into someone who you went to college with, there will be no uneasy feelings; you'll finally have an educational experience you are more than happy to revisit.
The moral of this story: don't let your past experiences hold you back from really living your life. It's always the time to create some new experiences, and you know you'll be better off for it.
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