Why I Am Attending College - Essay Example

Hitting a Homerun Throughout all of the stages of my life, I have felt that I have been a long baseball hitter involved in the important game of life, but could not hit a homerun. As I would step up to the base, I never knew what was going to be thrown to my head. I had many jobs in my twenties. They felt as if they were flying over my head just like those imaginary baseballs. I never found a job that I could stay at for more than a couple years. I grew bored and felt unchallenged, but that did not motivate me towards going to college. College was something that other young people attended but I felt I needed to work to live. Jealousy was my little dark black secret as I watched my friends have the financial support to attend college. My mother is a college educated woman but she did not pressure any of her children to go to college. Sure, she would casually mention going to college, in passing, but when I was a senior in high school she did not encourage me to attend. I guess she thought I would figure it out on my own someday. I remember her saying, “If you go into the medical field like I did you will never be out of work.” This went in one ear and out the other. I did not take what she said to heart or give it much thought. I felt that filler jobs just ended up on my lap; due to being in the right place at the right time and because I was young and fairly attractive. Now that I am turning 40 and I am a parent; that has changed. My pilgrimage to attain a higher education is to provide a stable life for my son, be a positive role model, and to aspire to find something in life; that can only be found by expanding my education. Having a stable career and not just a job is a very important step in my life. A stable career will enable me to provide a good home and be able to afford a college education for my son. The right stable career is able to point you toward financial freedom and it gives you an opportunity to be in demand in the job marketplace. There are many career choices where hardworking employees will always be in demand; healthcare workers, accountants, and morticians are examples of some of these. My immediate family is in the healthcare field. My mother and father are lab technicians, my sister is a certified nursing assistant, and my brother is an x-ray technician. It seems natural that I would eventually choose this career path. Truth be told, I have always wanted to become a nurse deep down in that secret place of my heart. As I stated before, I have always had jobs that supplied me with adequate income so I did not think about going to college, until I realized that I wanted a career and not just a job. Not only do I want to play the game of going to college, I want to hit a homerun. Being a role model for my son is very important in my life and something I aspire to everyday. A role model and mentor can keep you on the right path and give you courage to undertake any goal. My mother was a positive role model but I did not realize her sacrifice until I became an adult. She was a single mother with three children to feed and put a roof over our heads. She went to college when my brother was a baby because she decided she was going to have a career and be a good provider. It was not until I was older, that I realized my desire to achieve a similar success. Just like my mother, I have a son who is on the verge of entering high school and I also want to be a positive role model for him. His father and I are constantly reminding him that college is very important and that he needs an education to go anywhere in his life. After continuously encouraging my son to go to college, I looked at my own life and realized that if I am going to talk about the subject, then I should probably walk through it. After all, how could I reinforce education to my son when I have never been down that road? That was when I decided to show my son that if his mother could go to college and succeed then also could he. Becoming a Registered Nurse will help me achieve academic success and it will provide the opportunity to become a health care provider in the community. Aristotle once said, “All men by nature desire knowledge.” This quote holds a special meaning in me because I feel that my desire for knowledge will never end. There is much to be said for life experiences but I feel there will be something missing in my life without the college experience and that little piece of paper called a degree; and finally hitting that home run. It was not until I met a traveling nurse that I set my mind and spirit in motion to do something with my life. My friend Carla is a Registered Nurse that travels between doctors´ offices in the mid-west and practically names her salary. She is financially independent, owns her own home, and takes at least two vacations a year. Her expertise as a Registered Nurse is in such demand that there are hospitals willing to give her huge sign-on bonuses if she works for their hospital. When I heard her story, I knew that I had to return to school and accomplish my goal of becoming a nurse. Not only did becoming a Registered Nurse provide her the opportunity to always have a job, but it also gave her the ability to have a stable life and income while providing healthcare to others. Carla is my role model and her career is something that I am ready to undertake by going back to college. College has provided me the opportunity to meet interesting people and these people have inspired me to challenge myself. I plan on receiving my four-year nursing degree and eventually become a surgical nurse. Who knows, I might decide to become a nurse practitioner and maybe someday a doctor. Knowledge is infinite and all I have is time to share. The decision of obtaining a higher education is different for many people. Some people go to college because it is expected of them and others go to college because they have a goal to achieve. With this economic worldwide crisis, people are returning to college because they have been laid off from their current jobs and they decided to go into another career to secure their future. Regardless of what the reason may be, I think everyone has the right and the opportunity to go to college in this country. There are programs for almost everyone to make college affordable. There are grants and scholarships that are not utilized because people are either not aware of them or feel embarrassed of asking for help. My advice to anyone who is interested in attending college is to not be afraid of asking questions and to sit down with a college counselor and the financial aid officer. Looking back into my life, I hate to say that my mother was right about the medical field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the health care field was the largest industry in the United States that employed over 13 million wage and salary workers in 2009. I guess when they said, “You should always listen to your mother” I should have taken it to heart! Read More