College: Not For Me
As soon as I advanced to a senior in high school, the light bulb switched on. Every conversation that I had with an adult centered around the future. They would ask, “What do you want to do with your life?” or more often, “Are you going to college?” For questions like these, especially the college question, I had no answers.
For my parents, the matter of college was not a question. It was a statement. “You are going to college; you are going to Maranatha.” Their comments only fueled my desire in the opposite direction: not to go to college at all. But for my senior year of high school, I took online classes through Maranatha to get started. I could try college classes to see if I liked it which sounded like a good idea, but I was confident I would not like college online. Therefore, all talk about me going away to college would disappear.
My decision not to go to college was further cemented when I took some online college classes. My first bad grade sealed the deal: college was not the right place for me. I had several “good” reasons why I should not go to college (that I informed my parents of regularly).
First of all, I had no lofty life goals. I just wanted to keep my barista job and make tip money for the rest of my life (or at least the foreseeable future). People can survive on tips, right? Second, even if I were to attend college, I had no areas of interest to study. The only talent I thought I had was making excellent coffee drinks and interacting with people on a customer service level. Third, I didn’t have the money to pay for college (and I still don’t – in case you were wondering). Finances weighed heavily on my mind. After all, the price of just one year is more than I paid for my car.
However, something started to happen. One of my classes on criminal justice started to intrigue me. The class started out rough, but eventually, I started to enjoy it. The challenge of each week’s critical thinking exercises inspired me to work harder and to see the world differently. I started to envision myself doing something in this field of study down the road.
Fast forward three years. Now, I am a senior in college, and I need only a few more credits to earn my degree. During my time here at Maranatha, I have had amazing opportunities that I would have never experienced had I not come to college. For example, I was an intern at the City Attorney’s office in Watertown, Wisconsin. While working there, I went on a ride-along with the Watertown Police Department. Throughout this experience, I developed a second area of interest: law.
All the excuses I used to not go to college have been answered. First, I started to develop life goals. Second, college helped me to refine my interests and discover my passions. While I don’t know exactly what I will be doing upon graduation, eventually, I will be working in one of these fields. My plan is to continue my education; in the next few years, I would like to attend either law school or receive a master’s in criminal justice. Finally, my other major drawback to college was the cost. But throughout college, I have been able to work – even as a barista. (Tips do come in handy.) While it has been challenging at times, I have been able to continue to come each year. All those excuses and questions I had about college have slowly been answered.
Now that I am only four months away from graduating, I start to reflect on my time at college. I am truly thankful for the opportunities I have had here. I still don’t have all the answers. Instead, I am faced with a series of new questions (and some new excuses). But this time, I am not intimated by questions about the future. Instead, I look forward to the journey that waits for me.
Join Faith on a similar journey, enroll today. Let us help you with some of these questions. https://www.mbu.edu/mbu-admissions/apply/
Faith Christensen is a senior majoring in Humanities. This article was written as partial fulfillment of the requirements for Advanced Writing.