Running head: SETTING MY SIGHTS Setting My Sights Only three short weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to attend school at the University of Phoenix in order to complete my degree. While I was certain that continuing school was one of my goals, I was not sure if now was the best time. Despite my wavering feelings, I made the choice to proceed. Still, while making the decision to begin attending college, I never really considered my lifetime goals as they pertained to education. While I was set on the most obvious goal of finishing college and graduating with a degree, it still felt unsettling to begin college in general. To my surprise, we were presented with the task of writing a paper on our personal goals as one of the first assignments for this class. I was suddenly given the opportunity to analyze my personal goals with respect to education, work, and other aspects of my life. I came to realize that my primary personal goal was to expand my knowledge to gain a better understanding of myself and to determine my ultimate path in life. For me, these goals could only be realized by attending college. During my time at University of Phoenix, I will be investing my time and energy into the specific objectives of graduating and improving myself as a person. The most obvious goal as a student is to graduate, yet it is not always the easiest to achieve. While this may seem rudimentary to some people, I am having a hard time grasping the idea o...
In the reading “Who Goes to College” written by Cecilia Rodriguez Milanes I was able to see myself in her situation. When she was a senior she had no idea what she was going to do her following year, all she knew was that her parents wanted her to attend college. She always wanted to work, she liked being able to provide for herself but her parents always told her that college would come first. She had no clue of how college worked, what classes she would take or what she would do there. After all the confusion she had of what college truly is, she began to love it. I believe that Cecilia Rodriguez chose the right path, even though she was not completely sure of what she wanted to do she always worked hard and never let any obstacle put her
Successful completion of graduate school is a momentous and joyous occasion. It is the moment a graduate student has been working towards throughout graduate school. What is important to remember is not all individuals who start graduate school will successfully complete their degree program. Individuals that are successful know how much work and effort was needed to graduate. Graduate students make personal sacrifices to continue their education. Attending graduate school comes with a high price. Students must commit huge chunks of time to school assignments. Graduate students sacrifice personal time as well as time spent with family and friends. Moreover, there is the monetary cost of attending graduate school. After paying such a high price and losing out on quality time, students want to successfully graduate. However, completing graduate school can have a bitter sweet ending. Working hard for an extended period of time and reaching one’s goal can have negative effects.
As I reflect on my college life, I wonder about the choices I have made that have led me to where I am today and that will guide me into shaping who I long to become. The things I have had to sacrifice, the support and experiences I have had with family, friends, strangers and work colleagues. I don’t know what I will be doing three months or thirty years from now but I do know that I want to have new experiences. When I graduated from high school, I knew I didn’t want to be that person that moved back to the same town and stayed there for the rest of my life. I even contemplate leaving the United States in my adult life. Who really knows, maybe those cards are still in the deck. For now, I know my immediate goals include focusing on completing my college education the best I can, and moving away from my comfort zone, broadening my horizons and taken risks.
Until this past spring I hadn't thought much about what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go for college. One day in the spring the junior class had a meeting in the auditorium about taking our ACT test and college plans. After that meeting I realized I needed a change, getting into college wasn't going to be a breeze, kind of how I had treated high school. Although I always considered myself to be fairly smart, I never had put much effort into school, but after seeing the facts and requirements to get into schools, and especially after hearing Ms. Rice saying "In today's world, the way to a successful future, is choosing college as your future", I knew I had to make an adjustment for the better so that college could be my future.
I hope that by sharing my personal statement, I have been able to give you an insight into the person I am and what I hope to achieve. I have included what I have felt to be the most significant influences on my career choice. I expect undergraduate school to continue to be a journey which I embark upon with great
As the end of my senior year in high school approached, I had to make an important decision. What school was I going to spend the next few years of my life at? When the financial aid packages arrived, I was torn between two colleges. After sitting down with my mother and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both schools, I came to my final decision. It seemed like a year ago I was imagining what college life would be like and suddenly before my eyes, I would be a college student in a matter of four months.
In the United States of America, a total of 17.3 million students enroll into college immediately after completion of high school. While many students in the United States are attending college, the students’ reasons for attending college vary. Some students may be attending college in order to pursue a dream of playing professional football, while others may be attending college to pursue a career in the medical field. The reasons I decided to attend college are to fulfill family’s expectations and to pursue my dreams of changing the world.
College is a great experience where no all high school students get the chance to live the feeling of a college student before their graduation. High school might be great for these teenagers, but college is even greater. College can offer them a lot more experience than they get while in high school. Becoming a college student and having a professional education is more than important for new generations. The importance of having an associate degree, a doctoral degree, and a master degree symbolize a successful person. Becoming an educated person with any degrees will make that person’s life as simple as attending to school and getting the best out from it. Now, high school students should attend to college before or after they graduate to
It is rumored that Mark Twain once said, “I have never let schooling interfere with my education.” I have been guilty of similar thinking throughout the years and until recently did not feel the need to continue my education. At the age of nineteen, I let trivial things derail my attempt in achieving a college degree. Now at the age of thirty-nine, although I am much wiser, a whole new set of challenges present themselves. Making the decision to return to college and finish my undergraduate degree twenty years later was very difficult for me.
Roth, B. (2010). Some college students know where they’re going, but many don’t. College Success
The ultimate result of this paper will reflect my personal goals that I hope to achieve as a University of Phoenix student and which I have been and am trying to pursue and obtain. They are goals that I feel I need to have in life in order to survive, prosper, and succeed to higher full-filling and journeys. In this essay, I hope to convey to the reader how I am optimistically moving to reach these goals, as well as represent to the reader how one can set their mind to determine the goals that he or she needs and/or wants to reach and see that he or she can do it!
I often say: I made three common mistakes right after high school. I joined the military, rushed into marriage, and had two children. Without a doubt, these three life choices were definitely detrimental towards my goals of a higher education. However, growing up poor and a ward of the court, the stigma of being a burden towards others has been enough to break my spirit. For this reason, the thought of college seemed far-fetch, frivolous, and mind-blowing, especially when I desired to pursue my academics. Moreover, these great institutions of learning also seemed like places for the more fortunate because not many people are able to address their educational needs, such as the poor. In essence, I nearly came close
Starting my education at Westchester Community College was an upsetting prospect. The fact that I would not be able to have the “typical” college experiences that my peers would be having irked me. Unlike my friends, I was not excited to start my first year nor was I happy to still be living at home. So once I started my freshman year at WCC it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be optimistic about my ambitions as far as my grades and attitude were concerned. I have been outright disappointed with ...
Some would-be students believe it is too difficult to pursue a college degree, believing they are not smart enough or personally powerful enough to see a degree through. And, no doubt, it is no walk in the park, but is and will be the most personally fulfilling and rewarding experience and personal achievement that life will bring, second only to a beautiful, long lasting marriage or having children to share ones life with.
It is often said that education should come before anything else. “Education is the most important factor in the development of the country” (“Education”). However, this is not always true in terms of the success of one’s collegiate career. Education is not every student’s top priority, and there are many ways to live successfully after college without focusing on the academic part as your top priority. Only about 30 percent of Americans complete a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s, with another 10 percent completing an associate’s degree by then (Paulson). Not everyone’s top priority is academics, with many alternatives and goals to pursue, many people drop-out or simply stop trying and eventually flunk out. H...