Three Things I Did Not Expect to Learn from Community College

During my freshman year of college, I attended a community college in my area. It was not my plan and not where I wanted to spend my first year of college. I was unhappy there, and it took me some time to see any bit of good from this new path I was taking. 

As much as I did not want to accept it in the beginning, I was thriving in community college. Through my professors and the people I meet, my experience was unlike anything I imagined it would be. 

1. Professors are not left-overs from universities 

I’ll be honest, before I started at community college, I had this idea all of the professors would be those who couldn’t teach at a university. I thought that my education quality was not going to be the same because the professors were not as invested in a community college. 

I don’t know where this connotation in my mind about professors came from, but it is anything but the truth!! 

College professors choose the college they teach for a variety of reasons. Some of my university professors could simply not imagine leaving the campus, so they started teaching there. In my experience with community college professors, they were there because of the area the college was located in. They did not choose to teach at a junior college because they were not “qualified” to teach at a university. Like us, they have families and lives and want to raise them in a good area. 

All of the professors are 100% qualified to teach at whatever college you attend. While at my community college, I felt like I could better connect with my professors than my university professors. We had smaller class sizes, and they were able to better adapt to each student’s needs. At a community college, they teach people with full-time jobs, those who are mothers and fathers, or full-time caregivers to their families. They NEED to be flexible to accommodate their students. 

I noticed with my community college professors that I got more feedback IN the classroom than being told to go to office hours. I witnessed some of my professors make an effort to get to know each of their students personally. Because of this, I got to know all of my professors very well which helped me inside and outside the classroom. 

2. Diversity in the classroom 

When I heard people talk about their community college experience, no one mentioned the diversity they experienced in the classroom. Students, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, veterans, 20-year old’s, 40-year old’s, white, Mexican, black, and so so so much more. I did not know what to expect when I sat in my very first community college class, but it was a lot different than what I had expected. 

From my experience, I was in the minority of most of my classes. I was white, 18 years old, I didn’t have any kids, and I wasn’t married. My college, in particular, drew from a lot of Mexican and African American communities. Compared to my high school experience, I was with a different crowd than what I was used to. 

Experiencing this diversity in the classroom was such a blessing for me. I met the most AMAZING people in every one of my classes because of the variety of people that filled them. 

Meeting people from every different background fueled my desire for an education. It was inspiring watching my classmates work tirelessly to receive the education they deserve. I learned the extent people would go to achieve their education.

Some of them were young parents, struggled with mental disorders, or served in the military, to name a few. They told stories of heartbreak and loss that makes you wonder how one continues to get out of bed in the morning. But they showed up every day! 

I made friends with people that I would otherwise have never even got to meet. I inspired them just as much as they inspired me! Some of them continue to keep in touch with. Their stories amaze me, and I would not look at my education the same if I had not been in classes with them. 

3. How much money you really are saving 

The first thing someone says when you tell them you are attending community college is, “That’s a smart choice because you are saving so much money!” 

And you will get tired of hearing this because if you were not planning on attending your community college, you probably do not want to hear how much money you are saving. In your mind, you might be saving money, but that money saved can not buy your freshman year college experience. 

As I write those words, I feel it in my gut. I hated being told I was “smarter” for going to community college. It was ok paying more money to get the college experience I desired. 

But then reality sets in and sometimes we are unable to control our circumstances. We enroll in our community college and pay tuition that probably cost under $2,000. 

Understanding how much you are saving at community college does not come full circle until you pay tuition at a university. For instance, I paid $768 for 12 hours at my community college. At my university, I pay $1,646 for 12 hours. 

While at my university, I look for every opportunity of classes I can take online through my community college. 

You may not want to consider monetary factors when you are looking at college, but the cost is strikingly different. 

If you are currently in a similar situation that I was in, I hope this article brings you a little bit of hope. Yes, you might not be exactly where you thought you would be, but for now, that is ok! 

Give it a chance. There are experiences wait for you to be had that may change the way you view your education.