How I Worked the System

I was once asked the question, "What was the biggest thing you screwed up, but no one ever found out it was you?"

And I would have to reply, "Community college."

I dual enrolled for sophomore through senior year of high school, fourteen to seventeen years. I graduated with my AA degree and high school diploma a semester early. Don't tell anyone, but it feels immensely illegal and probably should be.

Let me explain.

I went to college at fourteen years old. If you haven't gone to college at fourteen years of age, don't. I'm pretty sure everyone at my college was either high, drunk, or both. None of them had filters and were eager to tell me how their lives sucked, how their significant other was failing as a partner, and how they hated math and writing with vehement passion.

These are things most people in a public school are exposed to. However, I was a sheltered homeschooling child and didn't quite understand why half of my classmates slurred all their words.

You'd think this would be okay, since I was a sheltered homeschooling child and had great parents who would guide me along the way. And yes, for the truly disturbing parts I didn't know how to handle, they helped me out. Let me add an adjective that will clear things up: I was a sheltered homeschooling middle child.

Uh-huh.

On my brother's first day, my mom had already walked him around to his classrooms, picked up his books, helped him log into his student account, and even gotten him a snack. I was dropped off at eight in the morning with a brother who was hurrying to his own class.

Go figure.

I worked the system. I'm a Slytherin, an ENFJ on Myers-Briggs, dominant on the DISC, etc. Whatever helps you understand that statement.

Yes, there is a system in college. If you haven't figured out what that system is yet, you need to read up on it. Just Google "Tips on How to Succeed in College" and figure out a way to get around those tips. I've made another post for that.

I did the minimal fluff work, I asked a question in class, I did all the homework and used the maximum of three skips I had, no more. But I didn't apply myself to the point of studying more than necessary for tests, contacting the professor when I had a question, or do more than skim the textbook.

My excuse is that I was younger. Now, when I do the same thing, I don't have an excuse other than being a ripoff. Eh.

I didn't pay for two years of college. I don't know what these community college's motivation was behind giving students nine free college credits a semester because the only kids that are going to take advantage of it are ones that would've gone to college anyway!

Perhaps the college believed students would only be able to take a class a semester, graduating with twelve or so credits. That's only a few semesters away from an AA degree, so why wouldn't these achieving students complete their degree at the same school?

Instead, the homeschoolers came.

I refer to the homeschoolers as the fifty or so students that aggravated the system so much (and were aggravated themselves) to the point where administration didn't even care. I refer to the parents who meticulous studied the guidelines for graduating and changed high school curriculum to match the classes their student could take. I refer to the students who had been taught by their parents their whole lives and treated professors much the same.

It's a weird dynamic. Some of the professors loved us, while others... eh, not so much.

I refer to these students who finished their AA degree, plus some, in two to three years and never went back to that community college again. I refer to the students who are two years younger than people in university classes and look like a shrimp. And we didn't pay a penny.

This really shouldn't be legal.

But, it wasn't all smooth sailing.

I have things I would've done differently. For example, there's this thing other than dual enrollment called early admission (another program that should be illegal but isn't). Early admission allows high school seniors to take four classes instead of three for the last two semesters. That's about twenty four credits. I might've been able to skip being in school at fourteen.

I would've applied myself more to my learning. Some classes I didn't care about (cough cough College Algebra) and got an appropriate grade (cough cough C). I earned a B in Composition One (at fourteen) that still haunts my transcript.

I would've made an effort to make more friends. Being ten times smarter and sober than my classmates, I often considered myself of a higher caliber. I didn't make an effort to make or keep friends. I have no friends from community college alone.

Other than that, 10/10, would recommend. If you're in or starting high school, look at options your local community college (they call them state colleges now) offer. It'll save thousands of dollars in the long run, and you'll mature in a special way. Yes, it feels like you're doing something illegal. Just don't talk about it that much.

Unless... you're blogging.