When I first started college, I wrote a blog post about my experience in a community college where I gave the pros and cons of going there. You can read the blog post here. In that post, I talk about my experience with only a semester and a half behind me so I decided to make a year review of community college.
Grades
I managed to end my first semester with a 3.5 GPA and I got an email from an honor society from my college saying that I was invited to be apart of it. In high school, I was a straight B student and for me to get that email made me so motivated to get my GPA up even higher. I had to keep a 3.5 or higher on my GPA to still be apart of the honor society so I buckled down and studied really hard. It was tough, but I managed to get a 3.8 for the semester and I was so happy when I got the email. I never thought I was capable of getting a GPA that high, but I really surprised myself in what I am able to do academically. If I spent a year in university, I think I would struggle academically and my GPA would help me when I would transfer to a University next year.
Professors
I use RateMyProfessors.com to find the best professors for the classes that I wanted to take.This way I can maximize my education and not get a professor that rambles about last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead.” The professors that I picked were amazing. I learned so much from each professor that I would certainly use later in my life. From my business professor’s many comparisons to dating and the business world to my biology professor enthusiastically talking about bogs and marshes. The professor is what makes the class interesting and bearable. I highly recommend using that website for finding out the best professors. The reviews are actually written by students so you know they know what they're talking about and it saves you from getting a not-so-nice professor.
Classes
I loved the classes that I picked throughout the year. I picked classes that would work with my associate's degree so that everything would transfer perfectly.The lectures of each class literally blew my mind every time I had class. I picked classes that I knew I would enjoy and some classes that are very unusual for college gen eds. I took a Russian History and Civilization class which was so interesting and so many people questioned me why I would take that class. In all honesty, I took it because it seemed interesting to me. That’s the thing with community college, you can really try so many different classes because they are really affordable and as long as it fits with the gen ed requirements then you’ll be set. This way you can really find out what you're interested in and that'll help you find what you would want to major in.
Parking
Parking is still terrible after I wrote that post, but I’ve accepted that there will always be bad parking. I’ve learned that if I have classes after 9 am then I won’t get that prime parking spot that I want. If I don’t then I'll have to park little ways away from where most of my classes tend to be. I don’t mind the walking, but if it's raining or if it's freezing outside then I’ll mind. It is what it is and the parking won’t change even if I want it to.
Social Life
I still don’t have a social life in community college, but I’m fine with that. I’ve come to terms that not a lot of people in community college want to develop friendships because some people would transfer that same semester or year. It just makes sense. I did talk to some people in my classes, but that is the extent of my “social life” I didn’t join any clubs which is completely my fault. The next semester my plan is to force myself to join some clubs. My time in Costa Rica was where my social life really developed, but that didn’t take place in community college. All in all, I didn’t really make any friends this year in community college and I’m fine with it. It may sound sad and depressing, but I really wanted to focus on my studies and I think that would get in the way of my studies.
I hope you all liked this post because it was fun to reflect on my first year of community college. My first semester of my last year in community college is going to start so soon and I’m really excited to get into the swing of things again. If any of you have any questions that pertain to community college or my life in general, feel free to leave it in the comments below.
I’ll see you all next time!
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