What a wonderfully thoughtful article, Kevin. I wish I'd seen this back in the fall of 2004 when I was devastated over getting rejected early decision at Vassar! I thought it was the end of the world (for about a week) and it was really hard to gain perspective. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

So why College? I could easily get a job, make money, and get a head start in life? I hate school, it's not for me. School is boring, and a waist of time. Those are all common responses for people when they finish high school, and suddenly have the option of continuing their education. Those very responses tend to be valid reasons for certain individuals, as they were once valid for me when I was in high school. However one day, I miraculously got a wake up call. Hopefully my story can be yours.

My parents came to the United States from Egypt 30 years ago. Till today, they can barley speak Basic English, and aren’t educated beyond high school. My parents, my 3 older brothers and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment which forces me to share a room with my parents. My household consisted of constant yelling, fighting, putting others down, and negative forces. I was never able to go to parties, or even go out with my friends outside of school hours until I turned 16 which is when I decided I would no longer take “No” for an answer. Thus, my mom experienced an extreme stage of culture shock which led to fights on a daily basis. Slowly as it became a habit, I started to care less about my school work and failed my classes. I went to bed every night crying, bottled up my problems, and hated the place I called “home” with all my heart and soul, therefore undergoing a major state of depression.

My only alternative was to spend time at my aunt’s house. She and her husband are both college educated, live comfortably in a big house, and have 2 daughters close to my age. So everyday after school, I would walk to my aunt’s house, and make excuses to stay as long as I possibly could. Because I spent so much time at my aunt’s house, I made an observation. Those who were educated, my aunt and uncle, lived happily and comfortably in comparison to those who weren’t educated, my parents, who lived a life of hard physical labor, and financial troubles. It then came down to one simple question, what kind of lifestyle do I want to live? Most people say, of course you would choose the happier lifestyle because no one wants to live a lifestyle otherwise. But the reality is most people choose the lifestyle they live, and undermine the power they have to change it.

As the month of May during my senior year approached, I started to get my letters from the Cal States determining whether or not I was accepted. It wasn’t until the middle of May when I opened my last letter from Cal State Fullerton. It was official; I had been rejected from every Cal State I applied to. While I stood there staring at the letter, my mother said, “You didn’t get in, didn’t you? I knew it; you fooled around too much in high school!” How was I supposed to tell her the main reason I didn’t do well was because she led me to depression?

I then had to make a choice. I could follow in my brothers’ footsteps and work instead of going to college making minimum wage, or I could prove my mother wrong by going to college and start building the lifestyle I wanted in the future. So College it was! Conversely, I was forced to go to Glendale Community College instead of Pasadena because it was closer to my house. After the first semester, I got lazy and decided to just stay at Glendale. For the first year I went from class to home, and from home to class not involving myself in anything.

I met one person during my 2nd year. This lady opened the doors to many opportunities, introduced me to many important people, and even got me a job. As a result, this past year, I have been involved in STAR (Students Talk About Race), SHS (Students Help Students), Shadow Day, AGS (Alpha Gamma Sigma), ASGCC (Student Government), a psychology internship, and am currently the President of the Speech & Debate Team. Astoundingly, I qualified to go to the most prestigious National Competition for Speech which is something I never expected. The people I have met through all of these activities changed my life in one way or another, and some of them will now be life long friends. At the end of the day, I never thought I would be where I am today, or be doing the things I do, but it’s those very things that put a smile on my face all day everyday.

I can’t explain in words exactly how I feel inside because I don’t think words can describe the level of happiness I feel. I wasn’t trying to make my story fancy when I used the word “Miraculous” in the beginning. I used it because I truly experienced a miracle. I have completely changed as a person, daughter, friend, leader, employee, and most importantly as a student since I went to Glendale Community College. I am graduating in a few weeks, and let me say it won’t be easy because I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE.

Guys & Gals: If you could take one thing away from this entire post, take this: YOU HAVE THE POWER to change YOUR lifestyle to whichever way you want. Granted, you may need help doing that, but there are plenty of resources and people out there who are willing to help you get to where you want to be. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS ASK FOR HELP! Stay strong in the beginning as it may be a little hard, but I promise if you put in your efforts, and ask for help, your life in the future will be much easier and greatly rewarded.

P.S. My job requires me to go to high schools and talk to students about going to college, and help ease their transition from high school to college. What a coincidence huh?! If you have any questions about anything please feel free to respond to this post. I would be more than happy to help anyone, or simply answer questions. After all, I wrote this post for a reason.