By: Taras Ustrytskyy
“I don’t feel that there’s a difference between a four-year and a two-year at the end of the day. You go to Yale or something, and it’s like ‘Oh! You go to Yale!’ Ohio State, Cleveland State, it’s just the name itself that has people like, ‘Yeah, I want to go there!’ But really, if you think about it, it is expensive, so that’s why people would be like: ‘Oh, I want to go back home and go to a community college.’ I don’t see a big deal. I used to want to go to a four-year, but I don’t want to have to pay loans and different things like that when I can go get financial aid and pay for everything. I’m okay with that!”
“I feel like Tri-C, for a community college, is a good start. Maybe if you have financial troubles or if you can’t get into a four-year university at the time, Tri-C is definitely somewhere you can start off and get your feet set.”
“I guess people do look down on it, saying: ‘Oh you go to a community college?’ But I don’t. I think it’s just a stepping stone. It will help you get started and it’s less money than a four-year college, so going to a community college is less expensive.”
“I think there used to be a stigma. I am a non-traditional student and I hesitated to go to a community college at one point because of that stigma. But from my perspective and my experience, it’s been just the opposite. I found that the diversity and all the different ages of folks that are coming here has created an energy that I’ve hooked into, and being able to hook into that, I’ve gotten a pretty good
education. I’ve been actually sought after because of my education that I’ve gotten here.”
“I do believe there is a stigma, just because of it being less prestigious. However, I’ve found that here with Tri-C, the program that I’m in, people’s eyebrows kind of raise. ‘Oh, I hear that’s a great program; they have such a good reputation.’ I’m from South Florida, and being up here for about five years, sometimes I find myself being a little hesitant to say I go to Tri-C or a community college, but I still say it, because I’m okay with that. Ideally, I plan to go to a four-year. I need to go on for my bachelor’s and we will see where that goes from there. I appreciate what Tri-C has to offer for me, for the area and the community.”
- Tags: eastern campus, Taras Ustrytskyy
