Why is it as Delta College students we tend to feel ashamed that we go here?
“I just go to Delta,” we apologize.
We’ve all been guilty of that self-imposed shame.
But why do the students view Delta under such a negative lens?
Sure, there may be those here that simply take advantage of the campus; people who meander taking courses that could be deemed easy in order to help get their financial aid, but we could argue other establishments also have people willing to take advantage of a good thing.
Community Colleges have a stigma.
“They’re not a real college,” or “It’s just high school with smoking sections,” are classic put downs, though soon the latter will no longer be true.
It’s as if the culture surrounding us thinks you’re automatically a loser once enrolled.
We shouldn’t look at Delta this way. We should realize the amazing opportunities this campus allows students.
We’re all unique. We can’t compare our successes and failures with one another.
Many of us didn’t know what we wanted to do with our lives when high school ended.
Some didn’t have the grades to get scholarships that paid for everything.
A campus such as Delta allows us to figure out who we want to be.
It gives us a chance to explore. It’s pretty inexpensive, especially compared to traditional four-year colleges.
If you’re at a four-year college with tuition and loans, you can be locked into one thing, then end up finding out you hate it.
A student can risk going further in debt trying to figure out what he or she wants to do.
The 1990s pop tune “Everybody’s Free (to wear Sunscreen)” sums it up best: “Don’t be ashamed if you don’t know what you want to do with your life.”
Why? Because, as the song continues, “some of the most interesting people” don’t know at 22 what they want to do with their lives. Some, at 40, still don’t.
Some have said Delta is a continuation school, a place for lost souls, failed seekers, former criminals and older folk looking to continue the education never finished.
There’s no problem with that.
There is something commendable about a campus that allows individuals to try and make a change.
We need to feel proud that we are here at Delta, not ashamed.
No matter what, we have continued on with our education in hopes of bettering our futures.
We may have to be juggling jobs and school at the expense of less than stellar paychecks and little to no social life.
But we must remember what it’s all for.
