In a series of unfortunate events, I found myself once again living with my parents and attending community college, albeit this time amid a pandemic. Far from my $70k private institution in Virginia, I am now in my hometown taking classes at my local community college that costs me less than $300.
Like many high school students, my desire for the college experience led me far from home seeking independence and freedom. I needed to tailgate on game days, party at fraternity houses, and wear a tube top to football games.
That I thought, is surely the “American college experience.”
I took community college classes before in high school to know that it didn't fit my educational goals or offer a traditional college experience. As a high achieving student, the stigma and misconcepetions of attending community college got to me.
In turn I sought a prestigious, private college education.
In my first year of out of state college, I experienced the extreme wealth and rigor of an elite institution, far from anything I have ever known. From newly renovated dorms to a posh wellness center that strictly serves green juice, the school is made of money. As much as I did enjoy those amenities and the impeccable landscaping I would admire on my way to class, they were all superfluous and added little to my education.
Now enter: COVID-19.
So, in August 2020 when I returned to a community college as a guest student, it was a real ego blow. Initially, I was embarrassed and nervous about taking a semester away from my private institution.
Yet, I have come to appreciate that community college has offered a much more practical response to COVID-19 than most schools across the nation. Community college did not try to replicate in-person learning. My classes were all strictly online, meaning no synchronous meeting times. I work on school in my own time rather than facing Zoom burnout. Community college recognized the strengths and challenges of a virtual education and transitioned to a fully online learning experience that could be done with no cameras, zoom links, or mute mishaps.
Most of the $70k I pay for my private university does not go toward improving the quality of my education in the classroom. Heck, it doesn’t even go to raising the salaries of my professors. It gets stuck at administration, or landscaping, or throwing extravagant junior balls. Yes, these things are nice. But let’s bring it back to what is really important — quality education at a fair and equitable price.
Because, when the pandemic and economy was at its worst with a record number of deaths, businesses shutting down, and families in financial doom, my $70k private university was urging students to come back and pay even more. I’m not kidding. Pay. Even. More….and possibly contract COVID-19.
While many of my healthy peers scurried back and continued to party with no consequences beyond a disciplinary warning. It was the college that encouraged and enabled them to do so.
It is understandable to want a full and lively college experience and in the future I do want those things again. Yet, if we take a look across America, the traditional college experience is postponed for every student.
With respect to my personal circumstances, it made sense for me to attend community college. Community college has allowed me to save money, quarantine with my family, and honestly gave me the humbling that I needed. I have a newfound appreciation for all the diversity of community college, from the working mom to the ambitious high schooler. Everyone is at a different life stage and we come together for education.
I urge all high school seniors and college students to consider what they want out of their college experience and what is reasonable amid a pandemic. I urge them to research their universities’ COVID-19 responses and question if it was ethical or if it was money-motivated and showed little concern for the well-being of students.
I know for me, even for just a semester, community college has made me hone in on my values and reevaluate what is important to me.
