Attending Commity College Is Amazingly Worthwhile When Setting Goals

Some students take a decidedly lackadaisical approach to the college experience, preferring to let their parents and counselors decide upon the best course of action rather than taking a proactive stance when it comes to planning for their future. But this brand of general malaise, while trendy amongst the Gen Y crowd, will not serve you well in the long run. The collegiate atmosphere is rife with opportunity to take life by the horns and steer (no pun intended) a course for success. Community college is an excellent first step in this process because it provides for two years of education at a fraction of the cost of most colleges and universities, as well as the opportunity to revamp a poor transcript (if your GPA wasn't great in high school now is the chance to improve it), and ultimately transfer to a university of choice as a junior (giving you increased odds of gaining admission). But in order to get anywhere in life you have to set goals and make a plan to reach them. So here are just a few tips to help you get involved in your own life and create attainable goals during your time in community college.

The first thing to understand about your future is that it's coming one way or another. Whether you plan for it or not, time passes and you continue to get older. You might not want to think about where you'll be when you're 30, 40, or nearing the age of retirement, but since the decisions you make today will affect your future self, the path you choose bears some thought. Passing the buck to your parents so that you don't have to be responsible for your decisions may be your M.O., but considering you're the only one who's going to suffer for poor decisions, it behooves you to take control of your life now rather than playing the blame game later on. After all, what good will blaming others do when you're stuck at a dead-end job with no prospects to advance? While you can always go back to school later on when you're ready to make decisions for yourself, it's going to be a lot harder once you have a family and a mortgage to think about. At the moment you can still lean on your parents for living expenses, health insurance, and more, so take full advantage of this opportunity and make the most of it!

That said, many students are hampered by indecision. What if you don't have the faintest clue what you want to do with your life? How can you make a plan when you don't know what your end goal is? In this respect community college can provide you with a great sense of relief. Most community colleges offer mainly general education courses with a smattering of prerequisites for major study. This gives you two years to fulfill GE requirements while dabbling in every subject imaginable to try to determine what you're good at and what you enjoy. You will likely find that you are naturally drawn towards certain disciplines, which could help you to set goals for your continuing education after you leave community college.

While you are definitely working with a time limit (although not one you'd necessarily track with a countdown on http://onlineclock.net/ ), it's never too late to start setting goals that will guarantee your future happiness and success. However, it is in your best interest to use your time in community college to your best advantage by taking the reins and making your own decisions when it comes to selecting courses and thinking about which schools you might like to transfer to when your stint with general ed coursework is complete. Even setting small goals now (like getting an A in biology or trying a ceramics course even though you've never done anything artistic) can help you to get in the habit. So start creating personal goals today, no matter how small, so that when the time comes you're prepared to set larger goals, and ultimately, reach them.

Did you know? Attending community college can help you transfer to top universities.