My Survival Of A Community College

Source: LA Times
"Nationally, only about a quarter of full-time community college students complete their studies within three years (the official measure of a school's graduation rate)."

"At more than a third of California's community colleges, graduation rates are 20% or less. "

"Of the full-time, degree-seeking students who entered California community colleges in 2007, more than 35,000 had not earned their degrees three years later, and most of them were no longer enrolled in any postsecondary institution."

A 20% drop out rate isn't a very inviting statistic for a community college student. So whats to blame for this ridiculous figure? Below i'll list what i think are some contributing factors and how they effect me. I believe the majority of community college students deal with these problematic circumstances.

 Financial Issues 
I find myself juggling work in order to pay for my classes. I am still living at home with my mother and she makes too much for me to collect any kind of financial aid. This combined with her philosophy of " If you want an education you're working for it " makes for a hard time. Fortunately living at home means no rent for the time being  so that makes life easier. 

Transportation Issues 
As for transportation I've bought a deathtrap of a van that I use for work as well. It'll break down anytime soon so I'll run into that problem when it comes. I only live about 5 miles away from the college so if the worst case scenario occurs I'll take a bus. That is unless the deathtrap lives up to it's name...  

Poor Study Habits 
Another issue I run into is a mental one. Since the majority of my time goes into work or classwork of some kind I jump at the idea of "free time". This makes for some poor study habits and can complicate my educational process. I've always been relatively organized, it's just the idea of going home and working on more classwork instead of napping or going out to a party or something of that nature. Virtually anything seems more inviting than schoolwork. I've improved my study habits recently by setting up a desk and using headphones in order to drown out my surrounding distractions. 

The Maze 

I know a big problem I ran into day one of my college life was trying to understand course requirements. It's very intimidating to walk onto campus with no knowledge of what classes you want to take and you're surrounding by nothing but unfamiliar faces. You feel lost and the puzzling class schedules and college catalogs do not help. The counseling office seemed to be filled with people who hated their jobs as well. So with no help from the counselors and a puzzling class schedule I found myself very frustrated. Eventually I put an entire day aside to go through and research which classes I truly did need and I made sure to make very neat and clear notes that anyone could understand for myself and also  just in case I decided to try the counseling office again. 

I'm Not A "People Person" 
I can admit I can be a tad anti-social at times. This doesn't help my college life at all. I have trust issues and I have problems talking with people. This makes making any kind of connections with students hard. So if I am forced to miss a day I have to rely on an instructor to see my e-mail and that can be quite chancy. I can assure you there are only upsides to getting to know your professors but my problem is not just students though, It also makes forming any kind of bond with my instructors complicating as well. Lastly, I have problems with the idea of meeting with a tutor or using the college resources because they involve social interaction in some form. All of this mean i'm running into any and all obstacles solo. I've gotten much better about this lately so maybe my future college life will be easier. 

Is It Worth It?
The last thing that comes to mind is the idea that everything i'm doing here could be worthless. This doubt in the back of my mind makes it very difficult to keep motivated in the pursuit of my education and all the obstacles it presents. I'm pursuing my associate in general business because I hope to one day either get a decent paying job or start my own business. To be honest I couldn't give two shits whether or not I get a degree or not. Its only value to me is it represents my capability to an employer. That degree won't mean squat if I decide to start my own business though. With all this in mind I still find myself without a real passion and I have people telling me I'm young and I should follow my heart and do what I love and that only makes things that much more frustrating. For now I'm going to blow through the general education portion that makes up my degree so i'll be able to give my full attention to what i'm really going to school for. My education in the business field.