Being There

Imagine if someone told you that you could attend a school where your fees are very small, where the classes where very small, where almost all classes are taught by persons holding a doctorate in the field they are teaching and many are taught by full professors and department heads. These kinds of luxuries, found at San Diego City Community College, are hard to find at even the most expensive and exclusive schools in the country. Yet many of the students who attend City College do not feel happy.

Higher education in the state separates the high school students into the winners and losers. The winners progress to nationally respected Universities where their career prospects seem assured. The losers must fight themselves though a maze of community colleges and State Universities to emerge hopefully employable.

This system was created years ago when college education in California was supposed to be free. Student were given opportunities to attend the best universities because of good grades and high scores on standardized tests. The student who graduated from a prestigious university could be expected to work the same job until their gold plated retirement.

We of course don't live in that world anymore. College in California is anything but free and no one expects to a job for life anymore. The ridiculousness of choosing life's winners and losers in the junior year of high school is incomprehensibly absurd.

The world has become an incredibly competitive place where it is impossible to rest upon what you learned in college. Those who will keep their jobs will be those who continue to grow and outproduce their competitors. If you really want to teach yourself how to learn so that you can continue to grow long after you have left school San Diego City College is an excellent place to start. But. if you rush to get to where you think you should be then you will miss the wonders that exist where you are.