Unforgettable College Experience

After high school I had no clue what I wanted to do career wise in my life. My parents told me that I had to attend the local college where I lived, and down went their dreams of college for me. I look back now and I’d wished I had known then what I do now. Without a college education, one’s career options are very limited as far as the workforce cares.

I returned to college some years later to finish what I started before. I’m much older, wiser, and more focused on my degree. Although it hasn’t been the easiest task for me now that I’m a single mother of two children, full-time student, and full time employee I have managed to stay on track.

After I finished my two-year associate’s degree at the junior college my parents demanded me to go to, I began searching for a college university where I would complete my bachelor’s degree.

During this time I received a graduation invitation in the mail from a cousin whom I hadn’t spoken with or seen in about 10 years. She was receiving her master’s degree in special education from FSU’s Tallahassee campus. I remember being so excited for her and sad that I wouldn’t be able to attend her commencement ceremony.

Some months later she and I met for lunch. We discussed her experience on and off campus at FSU. She shared lots of valuable information with me concerning the importance of a college degree, and she also encouraged me that you’re never too old to get an education and life circumstances are going to challenge you but never give up.

I had no idea or intentions on attending FSU at that time, but some years later I found myself on that very campus enrolling for school. I attended my orientation seminar at FSU in fall 2014 and afterward became very discouraged at the site of the large student body and campus.

The following year, in spring 2015, I encountered a fellow co-worker who informed me that he had recently attended FSU and he too became overwhelmed with the large classes and campus. So instead of dropping out he transferred to FSU Panama City and discovered a much smaller campus. There, he would graduate a semester earlier than at the main campus.

After, hearing his testimony I visited FSU Panama City, and I was sold right away at the site of the campus.

FSU Panama City had a friendly, family-like atmosphere that made me feel like I had been missing something all along. The staff and students there were helpful and friendly, and the campus was beautiful with a perfect view of the bay. Animals roamed freely without a care in the world. As I witnessed the sense of security the animals had, I knew I was in the right place.

I began classes in fall 2015, and I look forward to graduating in the spring commencement ceremony this May.

— Alicia Harvey

contributing writer