The Middle Years

Freedom of young adulthood was nice to get out of the world of high school. It was a new world that was better than the next. It was finally a break from my two different high schools. I was not the smartest, but I gave it the best I could, and my local community college gave me a full-ride scholarship despite my ACT and SAT scores. By the way, they were the most terrible to ever see. I could be a better test taker despite my good grades. It was close with less gas money.

It was a good start to some time at home. It was a different world, and I was doing well. Some classes were more complex. I even found a job on campus in one of the offices' filings. The effortless course in the place was college orientation. Some still did not show up. The class was just talking and trying to walk around the building. The funny part was that I relaxed in one of my smooth courses. The teacher could have been more memorable, but of course, throughout the time it was finished.

Other classes were more challenging but a minor step from high school to the more prominent universities. It was a whole world and even some clubs to join. Some English classes were more complex. One, I was doing well to the end when I had a lower grade than expected without any explanation. My speech class was good, too, and I did well in that one. I gave several speeches and met so many different personalities. I was told to make my speech about the Slinky, which is still memorable despite all they remember is that the creator joined a cult in Bolivia. Some other classes, like science, piqued my interest, but I needed something else. So many of them came easier that I was breezing through them. Other ones I had to work at but majored in business. It was nice to have my books covered; even my statistics book was used later at my university.

Due to my grades, I was admitted to the honor society. It was nice to be finally counted as bright, different than the middle of my high school class. Each meeting was informative, and I met most of the requirements. It was Phi Beta Kappa, and there were even meetings outside the state. I took a leadership position, and I grew up a lot too. It was my first time away from my parents, and it took some lessons to improve. I almost got all the requirements except for one thing, which was a disappointment but a good life lesson. I could have annoyed some of them, but being straight out of high school, I had much to learn. I did well and had a high-grade average the whole time to stay in the group.

During that time, I found some time to play my soccer game. There was no women's team, and Title IX was in play. I was not the fastest, but I stuck it out. It was fun, and I could finally play again after some time. I even played with a former teammate from the youth teams. It was nice to be able to play and not ride the bench. It was a jumble of guys that did not show up to practice. We did not work together on the team. Everyone was okay, but we needed to be more organized when playing. I did that for two years. My uniform did not fit due to sizing for men and needing to be smaller for women. It was an experience, and I will never forget it.

Community college was a good step for me to take in the end. I look back and realize it was where I needed to be to let me grow up a little before going to a much more complicated place. It was a good learning experience with hard lessons taught. I did stay active with both athletics and academics. It was the few places I felt intelligent and accomplished. The free education with the scholarship helped keep my college debt down. I did not appreciate all I learned then; it was a blessing in disguise. It was a step into adulthood in the end.