I must confess to you, my fellow classmates at Sinclair Community College, there was a time in my life when I thought that community college was for losers. This misconception was instilled by my all-girls college preparatory high school.My teachers and advisers gave me the impression that to succeed in life one had to go to a four-year traditional college (preferably with a distinguished name.) I remember hearing teachers say, "If you get pregnant, you will end up at a community college." Or "don't flunk out of college or you will have to go to one of those community colleges." In my warped mind, community college was a step up from jail.
Thankfully, my impression was altered when I took courses at a community college during the summer between my junior and senior year. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was not in a classroom filled with hoodlums, unmarried mothers and college drop-outs, but rather ordinary college kids who were trying to get through college without the burden of student loans. After spending years paying off my student loans, I realized that the so-called "losers" at the community college were actually financial winners.
So when I started attending classes at Sinclair Community College last fall, I tried to have an open mind, pushing pass those old stereotypes that I had when I was in high school. I must confess that I was a little taken back by the amount of tattoos and body piercing that I saw. It is not that I have lived in a cave or never been to King's Island, but for some reason I didn't expect to see so many "eccentric" people in one classroom.
I was definitely feeling my age, because I had trouble relating to young students comparing their new tattoos before class. I am embarrassed to say that I was intimidated by these "odd" students with multiple tattoos covering their bodies. I decided that my game plan was to lay low, go to class and mind my own business. I was going to class to learn and not to make friends. That plan worked until I was to forced to interact due to a group project. In one of my groups, I am pretty sure that I was the only one without a tattoo. It was after we introduced ourselves and started working, that I realized that in spite of their body art, they were totally normal people. I became pretty good friends with two of my group members.
It goes to show you CANNOT judge a person by their tattoo(s). Some very nice people have decided to go under the needle and get a tattoo. And a lot of them go to Sinclair. I am not volunteering to get a tattoo, but tattoos are no longer taboo in my book.
Interesting post. A couple of observations, though:
ReplyDeleteIn your first paragraph, did you mean to say "all-girl college" AND "preparatory high school"? I was a little confused by that for a moment. Also, I think you meant to say "taken aback" there in paragraph four (yep, I'm a spelling Nazi).
My second comment is that this actually feels like it should be two separate posts. You start out talking about your preconceptions about community college, but then spend the last four paragraphs talking about tattoos.
If the prevalence of tattoos was presented as just one of a few different things you had a hard time adjusting to, it would work, but as it stands, it feels like the topic of your whole post changes about midway through.
One more observation: in paragraph three, you say that you were surprised to not find yourself in a classroom full of "hoodlums, unmarried mothers, and college drop-outs." Is it really your contention that single mothers belong in the same category as "hoodlums and drop-outs"? You probably didn't meant it that way, but that's sort of how it comes across. x-/
I think it was a pretty good post and it showed the difference in the misconception you had about community college when you were in high school and the reality of community college presently. I also understand how you tied the tattoos in because most young people have at least one young person has a tattoo and correlates to you coming back to college.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a good post and I definitely enjoy your lay out. Its very nice and organized.
I agree with Tony about the feel of the post changing, but I think it works. Again I like the use of suttle humor "one step away from jail" and I feel it propells your writing. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThere was a shift in the my post but the whole post was about misconception and making judgements before knowing the facts. I was trying to avoid applying that I think people with tattoos are "losers" because I don't think that. I don't know whether it is a generational gap (yes, I know that there are people my age with tattoos) or the social circle I hang out with, but some reason I was uncomfortable when I first got to Sinclair. I would sit in a boring lecture and see a student in her twenties almost covered head to toes in tattoos and wondering what's her story and why did she want so many tattoos? Once we had a brief conversation over something that happened in class, I see her as not just that girl with all those tattoo but a nice person who is interested in similar things as I am.
ReplyDeleteTony, I am not suggesting that single mothers should be associated with hoodlums or drop-outs. The comment was in reference to the teacher's comments the paragraph before.