We’ve all seen the movies where a high school student graduates and prepares to head off to college. Their parents help them pack up all the necessities they’ve accumulated and then watch from the driveway as their child — their baby — sets off on their journey across the state, or even the country, to begin their post-secondary educational career.
If you, like The Ranger staff, grew up watching these events unfold in movies and television shows, then you may have been disappointed to wake up on the first day of the fall semester only to find that not much has changed. There were no moving boxes to load up, your commute only took a few minutes, and your parents barely acknowledged the fact that you left the house.
To top it all off, you weren’t immediately recruited into an award-winning a cappella group the moment you stepped foot on campus. What gives?
The truth is, there are a lot of differences between university life and community college life. It doesn’t necessarily mean that either one of these institutions are better than the other, or that you’re missing out on something by not starting out at a university. There are plenty of benefits that come with attending a community college; sometimes, you just have to look a little harder.
Amarillo College is a fantastic example of this. For one thing, there’s an incredible environment for student life at AC. Because it’s a community college, there are fewer students, which allows for a real sense of community. Not everyone knows everyone on campus, but it’s easy to find familiar faces at all the campus events (which there is no shortage of).
The most important thing to do to find a place at AC is to get involved. On campus, there are a multitude of organizations and clubs, which means there’s got to be something for everyone. Campus events like fundraisers, Badger Connect and Fall Fest are great opportunities to see what all is available.
It’s often stated that AC and community colleges in general aren’t “real colleges.”
High school students frequently disregard community colleges when looking at their prospective schools, and it’s not uncommon for those that do stick around to feel embarrassed, or jealous of their university-attending counterparts.
We, The Ranger Staff, believe that these feelings are unwarranted.
Community colleges can be a great place to start, but they are what you make them. Choose wisely.
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