Welcome to community college!

The Grammarphobe lessons are taking a vacation this week to rest up and learn about gerunds. Yes, gerunds, not to be confused with Geritol! In the meantime, today I want to talk about college. I've been a college graduate for two years now, and I know that maybe some people who are reading this might be going back to school, thinking about it, or have a child going to college. Let me tell you what I know. I am also including community colleges here as well. When people try to give advice on colleges the poor neglected community colleges are neglected, so I will give the community colleges some love.

I wanted to go to college when I was twelve. I was ready to skip seven years of school and just go to college. I knew by my senior year of high school I was off to community college, where I went part time (and worked) for years. Then I worked for a couple of years and went back six years ago, one of the best decisions in my life.

With community college, you have to remember this: It is college. Many people think it's just high school with ashtrays but it's not. Take it seriously, not so seriously that you start to have a nervous breakdown, but seriously that you show up, you go to school, you do the reading before hand, and you know what you are talking about.

Before you pay big money for community college, check with your financial aid office and see if your college has a board of governor's waiver. This is when if you are broke but did well in school, you fill out a form with your financial info, hand it to financial aid, and it's possible the board of governors will waive your fees. When I went back to community college six years ago, I saved over four hundred dollars doing this.

With books, go to the bookstore and write down the titles in a notebook or check if the bookstore has a website. Then see if there's a local used bookstore that sells textbooks. You'll save money and give a local bookstore some needed cash. If push comes to shove, try half.com to see if you can get books. Also, check to see if there are any programs on campus where you can get books on loan for the semester.

Show up everyday unless you're deathly ill. When you do show up, make sure you did the reading so you know what the teacher is saying. If you're confused about something, write a note in the margins in the book or in a notebook and ask during class. Don't be afraid of saying something stupid. Somebody might have the same question you do.

After you turn in a test or an essay, you want it back graded. You worked hard on it, you want it back right away! I know this is hard, but be patient. Odds are your teacher has about two hundred students, two hundred tests to grade, two hundred essays to grade. Try to be patient. If they take longer than two weeks, then say something. Otherwise, nagging them everyday won't help matters.

If a class is too much for you, be it the subject, you're taking too many classes, don't be afraid to drop. Yeah, it always bites to give up something, but unless you can give your best to a class, it's not doing yourself any good to stay.

You should also drop a class if it gets-to be very honest-borderline abusive. I've had fantastic teachers at community college. Teachers are there to challenge you to do your best. You might not always agree with them, but let yourself think outside the box when it comes to different situations. However, for whatever reason there are teachers (both in community college and four year college) who make students feel bad about them and use their position as a way to control others.

Five years ago I tried to be a pre-school teacher. Big mistake. Although I loved the children I soon realized big groups of children overwhelmed me, and sometimes the teachers did as well. I didn't want to give up on the dream just yet, so I signed up for a class to be a volunteer in the pre-school. Again, I loved the children, but some of the teachers? Not so much. One day I made raisin bread toast for the children. After cutting it up and serving it to everyone, one of the teachers looked at it, and said "Jennifer, the bread isn't toasted enough. Next time you have to leave it in longer." I sat there and thought okay, if I'm being judged on how I toast raisin bread, I'm leaving. I dropped the class the next day and made an appointment with my counselor to talk about transferring to a four-year college and a year later, I was at Mills.

I know it sounds like a lot and it's overwhelming. However, college is fun, even community college. It gets a bum rap sometimes but this is where you can start learning about new things. Where else can you go read different essays in one class, and then in another class you can learn about the Supreme Court? It's an exciting time. Tomorrow I'll talk about four year school. In the meantime, show up to class; tell the teacher how to pronounce your name, and just sit for a minute. You're in college. You're a star.