In This Post I Share...
Why I almost failed the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI)
Three of my favorite concepts that supports my personal growth
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The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) wasn’t my first choice for college. When I graduated high school I didn’t consider applying there because in my social environment there was a stigma about attending a community college-- that is that only the students who weren’t “smart” enough to enroll in a four-year institute attended. Of course, I was completely wrong in this line of thinking and if I had to restart my college career, CCRI or another community college would undoubtedly be my first choice.
The first college I applied to, however, was Rhode Island College (RIC), and planned to major in business. I considered a bachelor's in business a good alternative to studying to become a lawyer because it meant less schooling, therefore less tuition cost. But after a couple of weeks since applying, RIC sent me a letter in a small envelope and somehow I already knew I was rejected. I immediately felt disappointed and stupid because I failed to enroll in a school with an acceptance rate of over 70 percent. I felt worse after completely reading the letter because it suggested that I apply for CCRI! I held on to the negative view towards attending CCRI, but I felt like I had no choice so I applied.
My first year at CCRI was tough. As a first-generation college student, I had no idea how to navigate college. In my first semester, I was a full-time student and employed full-time. Between the school's workload and the demands of my job, I was overwhelmed and decided to drop two classes which happen to be after the last add/drop class deadline. When the semester ended, I noticed that I received two W’s on my transcript for those dropped classes, but since my GPA remained a 4.0, I assumed my studies weren't negatively impacted.
I was more overwhelmed the following semester because I worked three jobs! I worked as a hip-hop/Krump instructor, in American Eagle and shoe shiner at Nordstrom in Providence Place Mall. Once again, I prioritized my work demands and dropped another two classes after the add/drop period. This time, however, when I finished my second semester the financial aid office sent me a letter telling me that I had lost my financial aid due to my incomplete classes (W’s). After reading the letter, I felt a knot forming in my stomach and became angry and disappointed in myself because I thought that I just destroyed my only opportunity at receiving the education I needed to create a better life. That same day, I made an appointment to see the financial aid counselor. That day was also the first time I learned about financial aid officers.
When I met with the counselor, he explained to me the financial aid reinstatement process. He also educated me on what scholarships and grants were. For the appeal, I wrote the committee an essay explaining why I struggled with my academics and that if my aid was reinstated, I would focus on my classes. My aid was reinstated and since that challenge, I put all my focus towards my studies and graduated CCRI with high honors.
Lesson
This experience has taught me how to prioritize. When I started at CCRI, I prioritized my finances because I need the money to provide at home as the sole provider at the time. However, the challenge was that I’d re-work my school schedule to fit my work schedule, although my jobs were willing to compromise with my school schedule. I initially failed to see school as a long-term investment, but that experience had a way of forcing me to critically think about the opportunities I was given and prioritize them based on the life I wish for myself in the future.
When I became serious about my academics, I decided to take a College Success Course to learn what it takes to have a successful college career. In this class, I was introduced to the growth mindset concept which changed the frame of my mind from being self-conscious to being open to trying new things for the sake of positive personal growth. As I dove deeper into learning about the growth mindset and similar concepts, I also discovered two of my favorite laws of Karma, the law of growth, and the law of responsibility. From my understanding; the law of growth states that people are constantly evolving and that everything in life has a lesson that leads to personal development. The law of responsibility states that we are responsible for how our life turns out and that we must create a life that reflects our purpose. Learning these concepts gave me hope, courage and makes me feel empowered because it challenged what I was brought up to believe that our life is determined by external forces, whereas these two concepts gave me the courage to believe that we ourselves actually determined what kind of life we want to live and that to me was liberating.
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