As college acceptances are rolling in around this time, I have been reflecting on schools in general as well as how it was for me applying to schools back in high school. My little brother is a senior and is in the process of deciding on schools and I am also trying to decide where to go in the fall to complete my nursing education.
The main topic that is on my mind, however, is about the competition and the pressure you feel as a senior. I do not know if everyone experienced this, but I definitely see the way teens are pressured by trying to decide where to go to college. All your friends are getting into great schools and you feel the need to equal them. You don't want to be the "dumb, community college kid," or even worse, not go to college at all.
For me, this was tough....
I felt like just because I got accepted to UT Austin and Texas A&M I was obligated to go there....but I really didn't want to. I felt like because I was homeschooled I had to prove something. I wanted to feel important and I wanted people to be impressed with me--even if I would be miserable.
Graduation was coming up and I was worried about what others would think when they saw my college choice printed in the graduation bulletin. I really wanted to go to Concordia University--but almost no one had heard of it. Looking back on that time of decision, I can't believe I would have gone to a school just because I thought people would respect me more. Not to mention UT would have cost 5 times more than Concordia.
College is so much more than reputation. I hate seeing people spend tons of money going to one school while they could get the same degree for far less cost. And you know what? Colleges love it. Every year schools get more and more expensive and increasingly competitive. Nursing programs have always been hard to get into, but every year the requirements/tests/paperwork/interviews become even more rigorous and cut throat.
Americans are perpetuating this idea that we "have to go to the best school!" But this just drives costs and competition even more and limits those who can get into college.
So yes, where I went to school used to be a huge deal to me. But after I got married, my perspective totally changed. I wasn't living with my parents anymore. I had to move. I had to pay bills. I had a husband to take care of. And you know what I realized? It doesn't matter.
Yes, you want to go to a good school. But there are far, far more important things in life. No one wants to have years of school debt to pay off. I have met a bunch of people at Volunteer State Community College who used to go to nice schools in Tennessee but hated them. They regret feeling the need to impress and thus wasted so much time and money.
There should be nothing shameful about going to community college. I could go to UT for $10,000 a semester, or I could go to Austin Community College for $1,000 a semester. Why do we give community college such a negative connotation? Not to mention the caliber of teaching you can receive rivals other schools. Half of my teachers at ACC used to teach at UT! They just hated classes of 200 and wanted to teach a class of 30. Or they hated research and wanted to actually TEACH.
My takeaway from all of this is it really doesn't matter...When I am a nurse no one is going to care where I went to school--I am going to be a nurse like every other nurse. Yes, the pressure from parents and friends is hard...but life is so much more than that and there are so many more important things than college bragging rights.
You earn respect from working hard. Ralph Waldo Emerson explained this best when he
said, “Knowledge comes by eyes always
open and working hands; and there is no knowledge
that is not power.” Show your kindness through your actions towards others and do not let others define your worth.
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