When I graduated high school in the spring of 2010, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. After speaking with my parents, I decided that I wanted to get some kind of higher education. With still no direction, I decided that it would work well to do general education classes at Front Range Community College (FRCC) that would transfer to a four year college.
No Idea What to Expect
When I started up my first semester at FRCC, I had no idea what to expect. My first day I found the classes to be small and the teachers very friendly. As I progressed through the semester, I realized the instructors’ main priority was making every student successful. Whenever I needed help, I was able to go to my instructors and speak with them.
Something You Don’t Find at Every School
For example, this summer a final grade reported online was different from the grade on my paper rubric. So I went to campus to talk with my teacher about it. Turns out, it was a small error and would be corrected. What stood out to me, however, was not this but what happened next. My teacher asked me how I was doing in the class and asked me if I was having trouble understanding anything. After this he even volunteered to show me my grade in the class, as we were approaching the end of the semester, to see how I was doing and if I would need extra credit. We ended up talking for an hour about interesting economic trends and I even learned some things about industries I’m interested in. This is just one of numerous instances I have contacted a teacher at FRCC and they have gone above and beyond what he needed to do. This is something that I don’t think you find at every school.
Classes Transfer
As I have just started up my second year here, I finally have an idea of what I want to get a four-year degree in. Within the last couple of months, I gained a strong interest in the music industry and specifically the business side of it. After considering CU Denver at one point, I looked again and found that they had a bachelors degree in music business. A couple weeks ago, I visited the campus and also sat down with an advisor. When I talked with him I was surprised how well my community college classes would transfer. I found out that all of my 60 credits would transfer, including some that weren’t guaranteed to transfer!
This is just my personal experience, but as I have talked with more and more people, I have found many similar stories. A community college, and FRCC in particular, is a great place to start your education.
Have you gone to a community college? What’s your experience been like?
