Ran into a former student the other day and she told me she is going from Community College to Johns Hopkins! Here is a little of her story:
Student:
“When I began to look at colleges, I had three choices; Berkley, The Peabody Institute at Hopkins (I really liked the campus, and I was partially familiar with it) and JMU. The economy fell and it was no longer exactly the best choice to move far away. I wanted to help my family, plus my taste in career shifted, so I somehow convinced my family to let me go to NOVA until I settled in and everything balanced out. I was pressured constantly to get going and that I was wasting time and being indecisive, so in between my visits to Baltimore for the study I would go around Hopkins asking questions. I was out of practice for music for about a year at this point, so I felt like the Peabody was out of the question and that music itself would probably just be a hobby.
I ended up being offered an unpaid internship at Hopkins pushing papers around and took that time to absorb everything I possible could about the place. I was getting slightly frantic as to what I was doing and set my heart on getting into the school so at that when I’d get back, I felt like I was working towards something because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I began to motivate myself to interject what ideas I had and tell anyone and everyone who would listen without caring what others thought which was difficult at first, because I was surrounded by people who knew far more than I. I began to disagree with the methods of one professor who happened to oversee my work. Every once in a while, we would collide on certain theories and such, but I stood my ground and would then propose my own when we had meetings where I had once been quiet. My ideas ended up making their way to one of the interviewers for the school who became interested in what I had to say and arranged for my internship to be extended and I was thrilled, but I realized that in order for me to be accepted I had to go through the admissions process. I wasn’t ready for something so strenuous and I told her so. So she talked to a few people and I was interviewed by many different staff. They found my conflict of interests “intriguing” and decided to give me a slot to prepare a mini thesis as to what I would study, present what I had to offer to the school and why I should be there. I have not presented it yet, but they say I am almost guaranteed a spot in the spring.
Not sure how this will fit into your blog-but I really liked it. It had many great insights and was quite motivational. :) Thanks for taking interest in my story though! Hope to see you about and that everything goes very well for you!”
Me:
“I am so proud of this former student for several reasons.
1. She has the opportunity to go to a great school.
2. She will save a tremendous amount of money by doing half of her education at a community college.
3. She did not get stuck in the monotony of being at community college and working; she kept pursuing her dreams.
4. By being true to herself she was able to impress Professors at Johns Hopkins so much that they asked her to apply!
The lessons for those of you reading this are as follows:
1. You can make up for mistakes you made in high school by going to community college with a fresh start, getting straight A’s and then transferring to one of the best schools in the country. Your diploma will say, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, etc. but you will have paid half the price.
2. You have to be your own advocate, and stand up for your passion and beliefs. As long as what you are saying is backed up with your knowledge and passion, people will start to listen.
3. If you are at community college, it can be very hard. You watch a lot of your friends go off to college and start a different lifestyle, while you are essentially living the same life as high school, except you are also working a lot. Many people get depressed by this, or fall in love with money and would rather work full time. They then fail to see the light at the end of the tunnel and drop out. If your goals are dependent on a college degree; don’t give up!
Thanks again to my student (who asked to remain anonymous) I feel that her story may help people live a life of NO REGRETS!”
Hoping to offer you this type of personal education that maximizes your potential and lets you live your passion with NO REGRETS!
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Kurt
blog: kurtbuehlmaier.tumblr.com
Twitter: KurtBuehlmaier
email: kurt.buehlmaier@gmail.com