coolgirlspyer90

So, I've been having a hard time with dealing how my really close friends moved away to college. It seems like I'm the only one that is staying at home for college. It sucks. I go to Sinclair Community College. And I don't really feel that comfortable making friends over at sinclair because there is also a lot of older adults that goes there as a student that I don't really know. I rather be friends with people that are close to my age.

If its not about my friends moving away for college, then its them moving away with their family to another state. Half of my friends are doing that too. One of my best friends that I have been hanging out with for 4 years in high school moved away to Pennsylvania because her mom's boyfriend lives there. I'm trying to be positive about going to Sinclair Community College, I like all of my classes there, But I just don't seem to like being there. Plus the tuition at Sinclair is cheaper. So if i wanted to transfer to a four year university, I can have my associate's degree and tuition would be cheaper as well. Well, kind of. But I really rather go to Gallaudet University where I would feel like I'm in a more comfortable environment with people my age that's wanting to start their future. It's really hard to try and be positive with how i'm feeling about Sinclair community college. My parents say that they can't really afford to send me to Gallaudet right now. Which is why i'm saying maybe in two years I can go. Just as long as I have a solid GPA and working really hard in school. I wish I can just transfer to Gallaudet next year instead of in two years. I want to be around my deaf family more, And learn more about my deaf culture. And I also want to be able to take the amazing opportunities that Gallaudet has to offer there.

My parents kept saying that there will be times when I feel sick and that I will want my mom and dad to take care of me. And that there will be times when I need to talk to my mom and go into her bedroom and talk to her about how i'm feeling. And how I will feel homesick, etc. All of those things that my parents might be true. I may be homesick but it doesn't mean I'll be in college away from them forever. And If i need to talk to somebody I can always talk to my friends or just VP my parents and talk to my mom through that. And I know how to take care of myself when I'm sick. My parents also believe that I'm too young to be going to college on my own. I'm 19 now. I know how to take care of myself. It's time for me to be an adult, I'm not a little kid anymore. So I don't understand why my parents are saying that.

Right now I have mixed emotions about everything. I miss my friends, I'm worried if I will do good in college, Will I even meet new people in college?, Will I be able to get a job part-time? I'm trying to bury myself in homework and my studyings and trying to keep myself distracted without having to feel lonely without my friends and my boyfriend not being here. This will be kind of a hard year. I really do hope I'll meet somebody at sinclair that I can become friends with. I'm counting down the days though of when I'll see my best friends and my boyfriend again. I'll never understand why people invented the word "goodbye".

Deafness

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JClarke

Have you considered to talk to an VR about the paying the tution for gally and consider an transfer to Gally, is it you 18 now right?

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deafdyke

Transfer to Gally or NTID.........See if you can't get more financial aid.
I experianced the exact same thing.....community colleges are just.....not great for social life. They don't give you the real college experiance.

coolgirlspyer90

I just turned 19 this past sunday. And I emailed Gally's Admission Counselor..twice. but I haven't heard from them yet. My parents wants me to go to sinclair for two years to get my associate's degree so i can make money ahead of time. Plus when i was growing up i moved a lot to different schools to see what was better for me and I lost a lot of basic skills because of that and because of losing my hearing at a young age. And so They want me to catch up and get better grades so I can be able to transfer to a four year university and also to get my general education classes out of the way so I can also start on my major at the 4 year university so I don't have to wait any longer. Another reason is because of the tuition, If i do a two year at sinclair then i would save a lot of money when i go to a four year school. But my heart isn't set onto going to sinclair. I rather go to Gallaudet.

coolgirlspyer90

I would but My parents wants me to stay at sinclair for 2 years to get my associate's degree. I mean I'm willing to do that, but, I just don't want to do the 2 years for my associate's. I wish they made a one year program to get your associate's degree, to me that would be much faster.

JClarke

you are 19, you are practically an adult, and you can make your own decisions. Go and do your research, speak with a VR about finaical aid and speak with gallaudet admission office (call them via VP) and get all these details and get yourself transferred there. I have a friend who is a student there this fall. (She's from indianapolis)

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coolgirlspyer90

The problem is, My parents is paying for my tuition. and they want me to keep me out of debt by going to sinclair. I feel like if i go there and do it myself with the transferring process, my parents will get mad. I need to work more on my grades because I always struggled in high school with dropping my grades down to a D and trying to raise it back up to a solid D. I'm suprised i managed to graduate high school.

JClarke

weell, what's in to lose?

It is your decision, tell them if the college is not to your liking, your parents can stop paying for the tution, therefore you could show them that you can graduate like a boss in 4 years time from Gallaudet because Gally has everything that would fit for your own benefit, they teach in full ASL.

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Bottesini

If your parents pay, of course they get to decide.

If you feel strongly, see what help you could get from VR and take student loans and then you are in charge as you are the one paying for it.

Good luck in acheiving your dream.

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JClarke

Go and chase the dream, girl!

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deafdyke

Hmmmmm..........does Sinclair have a good dhh support program? Are there any community colleges near you that have a regional dhh program? You really do sound like me......only got a minimal accomondations IEP during high school, so you didn't do as well as you could have. If only you'd gone to a dhh regional program......I wonder if you could strike a compromise with them. Say that you're really really lonely and you don't feel like Sinclair is all that great. Point out if you're unhappy there it could have a huge effect on your academic acheivement. Ask if maybe if you did really well at Sinclair for a year, if you could transfer.......look into VR and other sources of financial aid.

deafbirk

Ye gods girl, why consider gally?? You would fit in better at ntid since you can cross register at rit wand the tuition would be half as much or more than hearing students py. I am more than sure ntid admission would be glad to help you out. The tuition at rit thru ntid is about the same as a community college anyways.
Send them an email and you will be happy you did

Frisky Feline

From my own experience, when i was in gallaudet at this time. There were tooooooo many deaf kids who came to the gallaudet for the first time due to deaf culture or learn about their identify about deaf etc. That is very overwhelming for them. They end up being partied or socialized with friends too excessive and their grades become suffer then they were forced to leave because VR stopped paying when VR see their grades went down. So i think you could give yourself a try to do well with your current for a year if you do great then show your parents and show your own VR then they may consider of letting you to go to gallaudet if you really mean it. So you can contact VR on your own and explains to your own VR. but my opinion is to give yourself a year at other college to get a better grade to give less worry for your parents about the tuitions. they are not that cheap. just a thoughgt,

you still can visit gallaudet during year on your free time from your own money. That is what other deafies did it and they loved it there then they did work hard to get good grades from community colleges then transfer to gallaudet then they did very well. not all of them but most of them.

good luck

Jiro

Yea that's part of growing up. First day away to college - completely away from what you're comfortable with. It's basically like starting all over again - making new friends, yada yada yada. The best part about college is that it's so much easier to make friends than in high school. You'll quickly see that it'll be good in a week or so. I'm assuming that Sinclair Community College is a good school. you'll see that it doesn't have silly drama and cruel kids judging you, picking on you. You will easily make all kinds of friends because of common interest. the only negative is... Classes/course works are harder lol

When you say "older adults", I'm guessing they're like late 20s or more. You shouldn't worry much about it cuz most older adults (including me) go to community colleges at evening cuz they work in daytime.

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radioman

Its hard thing to decide on since its your folks money. in todays society, its a great thing to be debt free, but if things are handed to you on a silver platter and you dont work hard to keep it (ie parents money means nothing to you as you have shown), then make a decision to go to gally or NTID and pay for it when you get out. Just do what make sense to you and your heart. Iff you go to a college you are not happy at, then how do you expect to graduate with decent grades if are not happy and do terrible worse then high school?!

Either be happy with your folks paying or be happy making a sacrifice in life (angry folks and looming debt). We cant tell you what to do, but just be aware of possibilities in life.

CSign

Most colleges whether they be community/state/or university tend to have a wide range of students- from those who just graduated and are quite young- to those who are older and better established. In college, most students begin to realize that the age of the person isn't as important as who they actually are as a person.

As to your parents paying for school, then they certainly have the right to say where they want their money to go. You may not be aware as you are still young, but college is insanely expensive. It makes sense for most people to get their undergraduate work done at a CC rather than a four year university or state school. You can still get a good education, get your GE units done, and save your parents (and yourself) tens of thousands of dollars (if not more).

I agree with others suggestions to keep up where you're at, do well, be open to meeting people, and transfer to Gally in a couple years. I'm sure school just started for you- give yourself some time to meet people.

CSign

JClarke

x2 but then again, she should decide for herself, she seems not to enjoy what she would want at the local community college. She would better off have the best experience at gally, I would be there in a heartbeat but the money stops me from doing it. :S

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deafdyke

Actually guys, I 100% understand CGS when she's complaining about the demographics of Sinclair Community College.......I mean most community colleges are a bunch of parking lots, with a heavy load of older people.......and while I have a lot of "actual adult" friends, CGS is still at the age where she wants young adult friends.
Yes, transfer to either NTID (which would be AWESOME) or Gally.
NTID would be AWESOME beyond belief....but transfer ASAP to a school that has a strong signing/dhh population.

Bottesini

You are overlooking the fact that her parents are paying and can't pay for Gally or NTID.

The only obstacle is that she needs to resolve to fund it herself.

What you are talking about doesn't really matter at all. She already knows what she wants.

She just needs to find a way to fund it on her own and not be a burden to her parents.

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Frisky Feline

Amen to that.

DD, Just read her originial post again. Sorry.

Jane B.

This is a story from what will seem as really way back to some but hopefully will provide some useful food for thought. It also is not a story involving hearing loss but life after CC.

I graduated from HS in 1960 with a hearing loss in only one ear and not using anything. My classmates did a variety of different things that next fall. I found a part time bookkeeping job that was a block away from the local CC and was able to, check out from work, pop down the alley any time to take a class and then go back to work. That job grew into full time, I loved the people I was working for & with and stayed for over 30 years. So did others. A coworker and I had a conversation about it at one point where the only ones (other than construction crew called in as needed through unions) that had not been there over 20 years were the ones that were not old enough to have been.

A classmate that took her first two years at CC has recently been our mayor and it was just in the newspaper this morning that she is going to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

One of the guys started at the U of I but didn't like the very, very large classes and came back to complete his first two years. He said he would take shorthand for note taking before doing that again (remember this is 1960). I do not know where he went later but do know that he has been a lawyer for years.

Exactly 10 years later my boss's son went to the local CC for the first two years for the smaller class size before finishing an accounting degree. He is currently a CPA with his own practice.

Just some examples of people that I know personally and what they did following CC.

CSign

Great post Jane.

Foxrac

It looks like you have similar problem as I did in 2006. I want go to Gallaudet in fall 2006 and my GPA from high school was 3.6. My VR won't pay me to go Gallaudet due to protest and my parent made too much money so my parent want me go to technical school, but I declined to accept their offer and moved out of parent's house to live with relative. I tried to attend Gallaudet in fall 2007, spring 2008 and fall 2008, all failed because I don't get much assistance and my family made too much money. I worked full time at Walmart for 4 years but had to resigned due to medical condition and limited vision activity became more problematic. I attended community college in spring 2010 and it was extremely overwhelmed but managed to passed all courses with good grade. I was in community college for 1.5 years before transferred to Gallaudet. I have agree with you about social life was terrible in community college and I didn't make any friends, even attempt to make friends failed.

When I transferred to Gallaudet and you know that I'm not party animal. I made some new friends, especially transfer students but had to deal with some immature underage freshmen who picked on me. Some underage freshmen begged me to buy alcoholic beverages but I refused and threaten them to report CRE and DPS so they got scared away. At end of semester, I got 4.0 GPA because I got A in all courses, including ASL. Some immature freshmen apologized to me for their stupid action and they want me to stay at Gallaudet in spring semester, but I can't due to medical condition and I didn't blame them. I decided to withdrew from Gallaudet and transferred to UAB that started this fall. UAB is pretty similar to Gallaudet due to 4 years college, but only difference about UAB is hearing university, no free tutoring for upperclassmen courses (Session Instructors, SI), some courses are more difficult than Gallaudet, somewhat challenge to make friend and half of balance must be paid by 10 days before class start (vs to due in November for Gallaudet).

I found first week of UAB is very overwhelmed but I started feel better now. I will return to Gallaudet in anytime when my medical condition improves. I don't have much chance to make friends at UAB.

You have to resolve both of your interest AND money. If your money isn't permitted you to attend Gallaudet so you have to deal with it like I did. I totally understand about your situation - that's not fun and I agree with you about situation on community colleges. I suggested you talk to VR about your interest and not sure if they will help to pay because I didn't ask any students who from Ohio that their VR pay for it or not.

IMPORTANT: You must have very good GPA to prove that you are good and please take courses that you took seriously. If you trash it so you will probably never touch Gallaudet until you improve on your own.

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Foxrac

That why financial aid, academic advisors and professors from First Year Seminar warned, warned, warned students about DO NOT TRASH YOUR EDUCATION and create a common sense about having a party.

I had seen some upperclassmen at Gally are heavily party but managed to get A in most courses, because they have common sense about between study and party.

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Frisky Feline

yeah. if they want to have degrees then they have to find a way to learn how to control their time management, like i did.

Jolie77

Agreed. It is a whole new other world for them, especially for the ones that has not had any kind of exposure to be among peers that are exactly like them.I think you've dished out an excellent advice by encouraging the OP to still attend community college and visit Gallaudet from time to time - giving herself the chance to sample the 'life' at Gally. It's a great way for one to get a taste and be prepared. Also, most of them experience a 'total freedom' to do just about almost everything on their own without having anyone to hover over their shoulders. That alone can be overwhelming too.

Good Luck, coolgirlspyder!

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VamPyroX

During my time at RIT, I would take the time to observe students attending SVP/SOAR. I could usually tell who would last long throughout the year and who wouldn't.

There was one girl who had already gotten wasted on alcohol during SVP. From that, I knew she wouldn't last 6 months. Well, she ended up getting suspended from school 5 months later. She slept through the fire alarm one night. Luckily, the RA woke her up for her to get dressed and leave the building.

There was another girl who was already drinking during SVP, but she never got wasted. She kept her drinking under moderation. She made it through the year.

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coolgirlspyer90

The only problem about the money situation right now is that I've been looking for a job. And I've been having a hard time trying to find a job. I applied to a lot of different places, and no luck.

JClarke

Keep trying, and try these employment agencies that could help you out?

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