How I Got Here Essay
This is the essay I wrote for my English class about how and why I am now furthering my education at Salt Lake Community College.
Natalia Wingo
Mr. Jorgenson
English 1010
9/2/15
How I Got Here
Finally, the day was here. I was finally graduating high school. I had been worried for weeks now about my grades; not quite sure if they were good enough to graduate. Even when I knew I would be graduating I worried that someone would stop me from walking and say, “Talia, your grades just weren’t good enough. We’re going to have to hold you back another year.” That never happened though and I walked with my class next to one of my friends. But the next day, I had something else to worry about. College.
I still hadn’t applied to a college. I wanted to go to the University of Utah, but I knew my grades would never get me in there. Plus, their deadline was long past. So I decided, what about Salt Lake Community College? I had friends who chose to go here, and even though I knew I would probably never see them in campus, just knowing they’re their somewhere gave me confidence. With my mind and heart set on getting my generals done with the grades I never got in high school, I looked up the SLCC website.
At first, I couldn’t--for the life of me--figure out the layout of the website. But with a bit of brainstorming, I figured out how to navigate the page. I waited anxiously for the page to load after I clicked Apply Now. After the page finally popped open, I filled in all the necessary information, and when I got to the end, I found out. I needed $36 as an application fee. I didn’t have that type of money. I looked towards my mom, she said, “I don’t have that either.” Then we both realized the same thing at the same time. I needed to call my dad.
My father lives in California, I see him maybe once a year. He had money, a lot of it; but he was very stingy with that money. He fought with my mom constantly about paying child support, saying, “Talia’s eighteen years old now, she doesn’t need child support.” I wasn’t excited to have to talk to my dad and ask for money, but usually he was nice when he talked to me. I called him, and said, “Dad, I need $36 for an application fee for college.” He said he would do that and pay for all my college expenses thereafter. Easier than I thought it would be.
In the middle of summer, though, my dad calls me up and says, “Talia, I sent you a credit card to use for all of your expenses.” The card arrived a week later. I activated it, and then tried to figure out how to find the balance. I couldn’t. The website was of no use whatsoever, the app couldn’t be used if you didn’t have a weird account set up on the website. I tried calling the card’s company, and they said I needed my dad to talk on the phone because he was the rightful owner of the card. What? My family and I were not happy. But we decided something. Who cares what the balance was? So we got a Pell Grant.
The Pell Grant payed for everything except books; so I decided that when my dad calls me saying he put more money on the credit card I would use his money for books. But there was one tiny detail. He expected that card to pay for my tuition as well. So one night, I was thinking, What should I do about the “tuition” I don’t need? Then I realized, I just need to pull out the exact amount I would need for tuition at a bank or something and BOOM problem solved.
Then classes started and I was ready for whatever college would throw at me. I’m still nervous that my dad will somehow find out about my scheming, but nothing I can do now.
Reflection
If you didn't guess, me and my dad don't see eye to eye very well. He's been kind of controlling ever since I turned eighteen and it's been difficult, because he has no right to tell me what I can and can't do. He lives in California, I don't, he hardly ever sees me, so what's the point of him telling me to not do something that I've thought long and hard about?