Colorado State University-Pueblo Top Questions

The fact that I am attending college and that I plan to transfer to a university next fall means a lot to me and to my family. I am the first one in my family to ever attend to college. I want to make my father proud of me, he wants me to get a good education as much as I want to. Unfortunately I don't have enough money to pay for my education expenses. But if there's something I got out of attending college; especially from my teachers; is that I have the academic potential to succeed at a University, and I don't want that to go to waste due to lack of resources.

At the age of almost 27, I have just recently completed my Associate's Degree in Visual Communications at Pueblo Community College. I have worked in three restaurants as a manager, cook, server, bartender, and dishwasher in order to pay for a car, food, entertainment, and life as it comes. As a junior at Colorado State University-Pueblo this Spring 2011 semester, I am currently taking Mass Communications courses and will be a DJ at the local radio station, REV 89. I am excited to be on my way to completing my Bachelor's Degree and truly value my education. I hope to one day be able to work for Channel 5/30 as a Electronic Media minor and I am grateful to have the experience to work for the Center for New Media at Pueblo Community College two years ago. If I was to be awarded with scholarship earnings, it would eliminate stress related situations from the restaurant business so that I could put all my efforts and focus into class and studying.

When I graduate college, I will be the first in my entire family to do so. My whole life, I have dreamed of wanting to become something to help others. I did not know if I wanted to be a nurse, a teacher, or something along the lines of helping someone else and giving back to the community. In 2004 my little brother was born, he's my world. As he grew older, we discovered that he has speech problems. From that point on I decided I wanted to become a speech pathologist. This is my second semester in college and I love it. It's helping me achieve my dreams. Making my family proud and giving to other people. I hope to gain more knowledge to be the best that I can be in my career and help children, adults, and other people who do not have what I do. The college I am at now is a two year college and all my teachers are fantastic. I need to be in a four year college for my bachelor’s degree. This career will be helpful and fulfill my dreams of being able to work in hospitals or schools.

College experience to me has been the absolute best, especially since I moved to Texas last year in my senior year of High School. Last year, because of the move, I was very depressed, moody, and hated to go to my new school. My grades dropped, my parents were concerned with my behavior, and making new friends was a difficult task. I was literally in a dark deep hole, one where I did not want to ever come out of. I missed my life back at my home state of New York, missed my wonderful friends, and felt hatred towards my parents for forcing me to move here. College gave me a chance to have a brand new start in school life, one where I was very happy, upbeat, and excited to start a new learning year. Since the start of college, I have yet again regained my love for knowledge, met some very cool people, and found my career goal in life. I also have done many new and excited things in college, like singing on stage in front of hundreds for a charity event, a very scary and thrilling experience. In a nutshell, college helped me be myself.

The truth about college is that it is NOTHING like it is portrayed to be when a student is in high school. The college experience is a grenade that destroys everything a student believes about life, the world and themselves. In my experience at CSU-Pueblo, I have discovered a portion of the complications of life, like the importance of money, cultural tolerance and dealing with death. There have been many situations that have expanded my knowledge and continue to drive me to succeed, such as a study abroad trip to Italy, Greece and Turkey. Most importantly, through the relationships and experiences that have been introduced to me at the university, I have found a new me. When leaving high school, there was a real anxiety associated with my identity and who I wanted to be. With the help of my friends and my higher power, I have successfully found the person in me that I like being... that I am proud being. There is nothing more valuable than understanding yourself and knowing what the purpose of your life is, and I believe that college has unlocked and will continue to help me unlock the mysteries of myself.

experience

I am returning to school to earn my teaching certificate because I have realized that the field of education is where my passion truly lies. I have already received a Bachelor's from Ithaca College in Sociology which I have used in my work with an environmental lobbying organization as well as an educational reform non-profit. However, I caught the classroom teaching bug and I couldn't seem to shake it, so I returned to school last fall at the University of Rhode Island to pursue my degree in Secondary Education, History and Social Studies. However, I found URI woefully disappointing and started looking elsewhere. What CSU Pueblo does well is that they offer choices to students who are going through transitions. Their Degree Plus program was perfect for me, allowing me to earn only the credits I needed for teacher certification without going through the hassle of a lengthy second Bachelor's Degree. I am grateful as well for the friendly and helpful staff employed here, including my advisor who walked me through signing up for classes and laid out my requirements in very plain terms. I look forward to my future experiences here at CSU.

I first started at the University to fulfill my goals of becoming a doctor, and that is what I had always wanted to do with my life. I awoke to college this last year as a whole new academic world. There were no longer teachers, there were professors, there were no longer tests, rather, we took exams, however, the biggest difference was that all of my piers had a goal, just like I did. It was a whole different world from high school. Kids are required to attend high school, but the kids that knew what they wanted to do with their lives surrounded me at the university. Being around such people inspired me to work hard, and succeed in every class that I took. I was always a hard worker in high school, but in college, I had to find the motivation to work even harder, and the people the professors that surrounded me every day played a huge role in this motivation to excel.

While my college experince so far has only been a short one, so far I have grown personally and expanded my knowledge base considerablly. I have gained an insight about business management which is where my future lies which is valuable so that I know I am headed towards a career that I enjoy. I have grown with my relationships by meeting new people, working in diverse school groups and being taught by new people. Expanding my personal skills is important to me because being able to work in groups and communication are extremely important parts of my future. The majority of my college experience is yet to come, but based on how the firt semester has affected my life and I am more than confident that in the end my college education will be the most valuable investment I could ever make.

I enjoy the idea of advancing my lifestyle with the use of my education, none of my parents have recieved a four year college education. I am very greatful that God has given me the oppertunity to eccelerate in school and show my potiential to succeed. College is a learning experience that goes beyond just the books, but allows students to have the oppertunity to get a stability in order to achieve asperations in life and promote a competitive drive. I believe a college education separtes the future avaibility of a good and decent finacially stable lifestyle with a struggling lifesyle, especially with the American economy. Being that I am African-American, I must consider the fact the I will be judge negitively because of the stigmas of my ethnic soiological influnces, so it is critical that I persue my education so that I am not apart of the negitive statistics but an exception. In America the college experiece is a gift and a honorable achievment, I am highly blessed to experiece all the pro's and con's of college, and with that I will encourage everyone, especially African Americans to attend college and graduate.