University of California-Riverside Top Questions

From my limited college experience, I have learned to take control of my future. Because college life is so independent, the ability to choose responsible decisions that directly lead to good grades is an important lesson to learn before being thrust out into the "real world". In addition to learning responsibility, I have also learned to relate to a multitude of people. The general population in a community college is full of exchange students, parents, and full time career people. The sheer variety of different students leads to a re-imagined sense of community. No longer are the average students the same age from the same town. I have made friends from different continents and their stories amaze me. It has been valuable to attend my college because it has become a fundamental stepping stone to the career I aspire to have. My college is just the right combination of small town friendliness and accessiblility with the accreditation of a major university. Factor in the relatively inexpensive cost of a community college and I have saved thousands of dollars taking the same classes as my counterparts at major universities around the state.

Although I have spent the last three years at community college in a fog of indecisiveness and confusion, I would not trade the experiences I have had there for the biggest fortune. I walked onto the campus of Berkeley Community College; unsure, afraid, shy and even more depressed having just sent most of my friends off to big name, 4-year colleges. However, upon entering my first college class, I was greeted with pleasant smiles from my extremely diverse set of classmates and my enthusiastic Sociology professor. What a way to start college? A class discussing society, and the way we as humans socialize. That class pushed me to think and to communicate with new, and in some cases, much older people. Sociology and the twenty more classes I took were able to open me up to an array of new ideas, and let me appreciate the immense diversity I have around me in California. I have met some amazing friends and people, who have helped me grow into who I am today, a confident, fearless, active member of society who is driven to accomplish my laundry list of dreams and aspirations. College is necessary for growth and acceptance!

I am currently waiting to enter college this year, 2010, in the Fall. The only college experience I have had was my college orientation. Even though it was only two days at the college, it gave me a preview to my bright future at UC Riverside. I walked onto campus thinking it would be scarry and nerve wrecking, but I was proven otherwise. All the orientation leaders were friendly and the occomidations were unexpectedly soothing! What I was most scarred of was making friends and signing up for classes, but everyone at UC Riverside helped me get over my fear. They went through every step with all incoming freshman in order to make the registration process as easy as possible. They also planned activities where making friends was not a problem. If it weren't for the college orientation, I wouldn't have gotten rid of my fears and I wouldn't have developed the ability to make friends. This experience was extrememly valuable and worth while.

My college experience has showed me not to take things for granted. The education i am recieving is to better my future and myself. It has helped me make wiser choices and to think more about the future then the past. This college experience has given me the oppertunity to learn and grow. It has been valuble to attend college because in the future when i am done with school it will be easier for me to find a job that actually like doing. Attending school reflects on how we will maintain a job in the future and show proffesionalism.

First and foremost , being in college has definitely allowed the opportunity to become more mature and independent person. I have also become a more confident individual as UCR has presented me with a number of mentally and emotionally trying and enduring times through which I was able to withstand. Also at UCR I have met some of the most interesting people I have ever known. I have learned much more than what one would generally find in textbooks. I have also learned a great deal about myself. Most significantly, I believe that at UCR I have gained the neccessary skills and diverse set of perspectives to make a the world a better place. From my time spent in and outside of class I have learned how and what is neccessary in order to become successful as a student, which will be helpful throughout my life but especially in law school. I am confident that when I graduate from UCR I will have be ready for what is to come.

My first year of college has taught me a lesson beyond the many books I have read. UC Riverside has taught me how to find myself and how to love myself. In my first year I have met teachers that have taught me that no matter the situation, it is always best to be myself. Many of my professors have given me the tools that I need to understand my place in the world. Along with my professors, the friends that I have made here have given me the strength I need to tackle the struggles in this world. I have come out as a proud homosexual male and everyone in the UC Riverside has been excepting and helpful. My friends have shown me that this world can bring together people from various backgrounds and bring them together in a way that none of us thought possible. So, UC Riverside has truly rewarded me with the greatest gift of all, myself, and because of this I am forever thankful to a school that I thought I would never fit in. A school that has given me a new home.

The university that I have attended has taught me how to stay focused, and not let the pressures of social reputation, financial stressing, or other negative influences to hinder me from achieving my goals. I have truly understood the value of education and its importance to my future.

I have a new respect for myself and more confidence in what I do. I am learning a new field and appreciate the opportunity to help others. It has been valuable for me to attend because I am in a new career and leaving a dead end job that is going now where. When I finish my degree I will have the sense and happiness of completing something in my life. I will also have many opportunities in the healthcare field and can not wait for the chance to help others and be a good role model for my children.

When I first attended College, I did not understand the social connection that employers seek. I believed that if I worked hard enough I could make any employer see that I was worth the Fifty thousand dollar a year job. It would just take time. My work experience though proved to be contrary to my belief. Although employers said , "Yes work hard and you will do well", which is somewhat true, the real truth is that I have never made over Twenty-five thousand dollars a year in Twenty years of working. Employers are looking to see what kind of continued education and training their employees are seeking out. I ended up depressed for many years, believing that I would not make it past my Thirtieth birthday, only to now be Forty-two looking back wondering if I could have made my first college experience work, and wishing that I had. I thought back then that I was invincible, only now to realize that I am still growing older, without the education to reflect my age. I still believe that I am exactly where I'm suppose to be, but I still wish I was "here" twenty years ago.

When I arrived at UCR, I had a limited scope on what the world had to offer. I had a limited scope on people and what it meant to work hard and accomplish goals. At UCR, I learned and was instilled with a strong work ethic as well as a completely better understanding of the how to utilize that strong work ethic for my personal benefit as well as the benefit of others around me. I now teach at the Riverside Unified School District. I am actively involved in an after school program for teenagers helping them discover their talents and realize their own potential in academic endeavors. The most important thing I valued from attending UCR is constant emphasis of the importance of diversity of peoples. My limited scope has expanded to a vast horizon of the importance of understanding people and respecting their backgrounds. I have made friends from many different backgrounds and I have learned how to work with their differing ideas to discover the best possible ways to deal with remaining tyrannies such as sexism and racism. UCR has taught me to be a better person for myself and for everyone around me.