Reflection on Studies at the University

Pre-College I graduated from Atkins High School in 2007 and after that, I started working at a telemarketing company. I did not know what I wanted to do in life so I thought that I would be a waste of time for me to start college without any idea of what path I wanted to take. I quit my job and started working at Sonic full time but after working there for 2 years I decided that I need to make something of myself and decided to enroll in college. It was difficult because at that time, I had been out of high school for almost 3 years and I had forgotten most of what I have learned in high school. I never took the ACT in high school so I started taking practice test online and a few days later, I took the COMPASS and scored fairly well.

I have many plans for my professional development. My objective is to earn my degree so I can teach either grades K-6 or mathematics. I do prefer to stay in the Beckley or the surrounding area but I have prepared myself to take a much bigger step if necessary. I want to teach for at least two or three years with complete focus on my experience as a beginning teacher. After a few years I will then decide whether or not to go back to college to further my education by getting my masters.

After reflecting on my Strengths and weaknesses that I addressed in my SWOT analysis I tried to come up with three goals that would push me to my career goal. I plan to get my doctorate in economics so that I may be a college professor. I was concerned with the time it would take to get my degree, but time has passed and I am no longer worried. I even visited the Advising center to clarify my degree plan and review the recommended courses. Community college is just a stepping stone.

Now having spent 2 years as a college student I recognize that when going to college comes a lot of responsibility and self-determination. Not only do I get the freedom to pick the classes of my choice and ones that also catch my interest and help direct me to the career right for me. To me, college means getting a higher education to help me accomplish my goals later on in my life and college is going to help me find out the type of person I am going to become. “It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts… it is to teach them to think, if that is possible, and always to think for themselves.” – Robert Hutchins

Unlike many people who attended college after they graduated from high school I was not one of them. I chose to be a wife and a mother of two; later after my children were grown and my first marriage was over I realized I needed a change. I decided to attend a community college taking the traditional classroom courses. It was a major struggle for me because I was working full-time and part-time jobs while working on an Associates Degree. What should have taken me only two years to complete it took me four because I was not able to work in all the classes needed to graduated in a two year time period my work crazy hours and take care of my family would not allow it.

I am currently on course for a University Studies degree with my three concentrations being Personal Financial Planning, Organizational Leadership, and Human Resource Development. Although, these courses are very different from my initial major—accounting—they each have concepts and theories of which I can infuse with my understanding of the business world. Also, in most businesses each of my three concentrations play a key role in the development of the company. From the franchisee to the corporate offices of the company there are examples of structured leadership, the involvement that financial planning has in the expansion of the business in new markets, and the specialized department within the company that deal with employee

Now that I am older want to have a career that I will be happy to go to work and not see it as another day. My first option for a career was to be a Nursing Assistant, but I noticed that wasn’t my strongest passion. So I decided to go to Early Childhood Education since ever

Both universities informed me that I would have to retake my first two years that I had completed at Chattanooga State. I would have to commit for another four to six years of college. I did not have the time to do this. I wanted to be finished with my bachelor?s degree within two years if possible. So, later, when they realize that their choices are limited, their futures sealed or semi-gelled, they decide that school is where they need to be (Smith, 2001).

Even doe you have your life well planned you never know how is going to end up. That is why, never mind which way I decide to go for life that I will always desire to have all the people around me and me happy. Each year at university I reconsider how I will like my life to be. Each year I am more conscious of putting effort on my courses, having good grades and doing internships where I can take the most of it. All the previous aspects mentioned are the ones that the majority of parents would expect from their children to do at University.

When I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Psychology degree in 2004, I remember feeling unsure of what it was I wanted to do. Nine years later I entered my Master’s program in Educational Leadership and I remember feeling that same apprehension. I had been a Guidance Counselor providing college advising to inner city high school students for 8 years. I knew I wanted to focus on Higher Education Administration but was unsure of how I could transition into the field. In the summer of 2015, I was preparing to graduate with my Master’s degree but, before I could, I had one final course: Leadership in Higher Education.