I graduated from Falls Church last June
and life after high school has been a lot different
than I expected it would be. I attended
Coastal Carolina University in the fall and I really
enjoyed the university experience. However,
I realized that CCU was not the best option for
me financially and I could attend a really good
Virginia school in a couple of years for half the
cost. Leaving Coastal Carolina was not an easy
decision but I was willing to make the move and
come home to attend Northern Virginia Community
College.
The transfer process was actually relatively
easy and it is not something to stress about
while still in high school because no matter how
sold you are on whatever school you plan on attending, your perspective will change within the
next year. The hardest part of the transfer process
was not the paperwork and the transferring of
credits, it was leaving the people that I had become
close with and saying goodbye to an area
that became my temporary home.
I can remember stressing about college as
a senior in high school and I remember thinking
that I had it all figured out but I soon realized
that I really had no idea what I was getting myself
into. College is a completely different animal
than high school and I quickly realized that you
have to stay on task and use your time wisely if
you wish to succeed. The library is a place that
you will need to get used to because studying for
countless hours is necessary in order to get good
grades in college. Some advice that I can give high
school students who plan on attending college
is that you should research and spend
time talking to students who attend the college
you want to go to before you make your
final decision. I also recommend applying
for as many scholarships as possible because
tuition is very costly for every college or university
out there.
However, the best advice that I can
give high school students is that you should
not stress too much about college and instead
enjoy your last couple of months at
Falls Church and spend time with your high
school classmates and teachers because you
will miss them as you move on.