For god's sake, the name alone sounds cool as hell. Like if I didn't know about them,
But in the US, they're treated like a joke. It's a punchline to drop out. I can't think of a story where somebody transferred from a community college, either to save money or use the time to think on a major.
Elitism in academia isn't a new thing with Ivy League nepo baby factories, or the STEM-Lord Cinematic Universe, but the disrespect for local schools is incredible.
Finishing community college and not going on to another university, for whatever reason, is great, and perfectly valid on its own. It's not a failure.
The way the US works is stacked against people going to college if they can't afford it. Like what sick shit is that? Education shouldn't be an investment opportunity. It's not supposed to be a business risk.
Community College isn't the solution, but it's a great starting place if you want to study for relatively cheap. The professors are usually pretty cool too. I was able to sit in on some extra classes when I had down time during the day. You can meet experts who love teaching so much they do it as a hobby.
You don't need to get a degree or have a track like you want to transfer. If you occasionally want to take a creative writing or fitness class, you can do that a lot cheaper than a writing workshop or personal training. It's also kinda nice for physical education if you don't want a lot of one-on-one attention.
Do you want to talk about movies for shits and giggles? There's a film as literature class you can take as an elective. You can watch two classic movies a week and debate/write about it.
Do you want to have a better understanding of mental health? Intro to Psychology can bring you up to date on trends in mental health.
If you know where to look, you can find comrades teaching sociology and political science. It's how I started reading about Engels.
Another cool thing is there are people of all ages there. You don't to make connections, obviously, but it feels nice when you know the population includes people who are working full time, or trying to figure things out in your community.
I know not every city has them, but I highly recommend checking them out.
I got three associates degrees in my local community college. They opened doors for me. I dont use the degrees i got, but i still have em.
The idea that a community college is laughable is up there with the assholes who put their kids in catholic schools. Its probably even spread by the very same assholes.
Community college is a much more affordable way to start college for the first two years at the least. Apart from some parasitic social stigma bullshit from assholes I don't like in the first place, there's no downside to going to community college first.
where i live they're just called "college" (as opposed to university) and frankly if you want actually useful skills, they are a solid choice
very cheap too, sometimes free even
i got a ccna at my local college as part of a prison leavers program for zero paymentFinishing community college and not going on to another university, for whatever reason, is great, and perfectly valid on its own. It's not a failure.
I don't know who else needed to read this. I know I did.
The community colleges around me costs hundreds of dollars per class is that normal?
Sadly, yeah. There are financial aid offices that offer more assistance than for 4 year universities, but it's still pricey in a lot of places.
But auditing a class can be an option if you personally reach out to a professor. Maybe even offer to be an instructor in exchange, if you're genuinely curious about what the school work looks like and/or work with an educator.
In terms of education community colleges are way better than research universities and in a fair would a degree from one would indicate being better at book-learning.
Going back to community college has immensely boosted both my confidence and my creative output. I wrote maybe 15-20 pages of fiction-related things in 2022. In 2023 I have cranked out at least 100 between drafts and bits of lore for characters and setting. I'm finding that I have talents in areas I never expected, like acting and singing and building shit out of foam core and hot glue. A few years ago I had convinced myself that I had the bleak choice of fixing everything "wrong" with me or hitting the eject button on life. In the years since I've had a lot of therapy and found the courage to try again at something I'd failed multiple times before. Somewhere along the way I started getting my shit together and didn't even notice.
I'm going to keep at it at least one more semester because I want to take the other half of that creative writing course. But I want to finish the story I started in the first half before then. Now my problem is not a lack of confidence or motivation but a lack of time and energy. Wish I could quit my job and focus on school, but I need the money and more importantly the health insurance. But I need the school to get a decent job. So...
I did two years at mine for a general studies degree, with the intention of figuring out my major and transferring. Then 2020 happened and I had to do all my work in my room and just lost any interest. I graduated but that was over two years ago and I've been wasting away at my wagie service job ever since. I've been contemplating going back but I'm afraid to commit to a serious program. Might look into just doing some random classes for shits and giggles. Just to keep my brain functioning, maybe make some friends, reawaken some lost interest in...anything, really.
I'm almost 25 though and it feels so embarrassing. I know I shouldn't, I met people of all ages when I was there in person, but I can't shake the shame.
A society that commodifies education stands to make education difficult to purchase and shameful for those who obtain it cheaply.
You have to do it the right way or the people who paid for it did it the wrong way.
Pirating books, recording lectures, listening to audiobooks, asking for accommodations, getting financial aid, choice of major, finishing later, not finishing, etc. People would try to find a way to make education seem illegitimate.
I hate the platitudes around it's never too late to get started on life and you can get a doctorate at 85. It doesn't acknowledge the reasons why people are unable to get their education for that long.
There are a ton of factors around starting or considering continuing school, and most of them are financial or a result a tragedy worsened by capitalism like covid.
There are plenty of other valid reasons to not start or continue school either, including just not liking it.
We're all trying to make it out here, and for what it's worth, it was cool going back to school after taking a break. Younger students might make a joke here and there, but a lot of the time I ran into people I was able to help with things.
There was a Citations Needed episode on the 'Thirty Under Thirty' media trend that really helped me feel at peace with where I'm at in life.
Hell yeah I’ve been wanting to do an intro to metalwork or sth to just learn the basics of stick welding, nothing fancy but enough to like fix cars, fences, and make some basic shit out of angle iron.
