In California, the University of California system has reasonably priced “Junior Colleges”. These are 2-year colleges for those attempting to earn basic college credits prior to enrolling in a more prestigious 4-year college and those going for certificates and Associate degrees.
I was recently informed that the term: ‘Junior College’ is outdated. The term for them now is ‘Community College’. Whatever you call them, they are the same now as then, if you ask me. Anyway, the fall after high school graduation, I enrolled in Chabot Hayward’s Los Positas College, which was close to my house. My goal was to take basic classes to transfer over to Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO. This was the College my BFF was planning to attend. Since she was a year behind me in school, this gave me a chance to get a job and earn tuition money before moving to Missouri and getting away from home.
SEMO, as we affectionately call it, is a medium-sized school within the sweet little river town of Cape Girardeau. The streets along the river are still cobblestone. I fell in love. This place felt like how college should be. It could have been because my BFF and I were roommates, combined with watching too many movies about such places. Oh, dear. I have digressed into happy memories and gotten off-track. Gee – how unusual for me. HA!
Between my freshman and sophomore years at SEMO, I met my ex-husband on summer break and stayed in California until the wedding. Although not a traditional educational institution, I learned a lot in the next five years. I learned about being a military wife, having a baby, living with in-laws, living overseas, living in a trailer park, living in the desert, and all the on-the-job experience that entailed.
Fast-forward past SEMO, and I am thinking about a Computer Science degree. A lot changes in 20 years. Except college credits. I was thrilled to find out that class credits do not have a statute of limitations on them. All the basics I took in SEMO went toward my degree. Unfortunately, none of those credits involved math. My major was Childhood Development. I did not have to take any of the “ologies**,” for my degree, but I had to start anew with mathematics.
Because I was a mom, who worked full time it took many years to crawl through algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. I only survived Calculus 1 because I had an awesome teacher, Mr. Adams. Support from scientists at work, and a wonderful 2nd husband and his boys, who knew their way around math.
The end of this story is I graduated with highest honors, from Los Positas College with an Associate of Computer Science Degree. The very same year that my baby graduated from High School. And, No. I am not going to divulge the exact year that was!
** Psychology, Sociology, Biology, et al.
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