Good News! I Got Help. Bad News? It Was Not What I Expected.

Planning for your future is not easy.

The process can be overwhelming, especially when you expect someone to help you only to discover that isn’t the case.

I’m no stranger to the hopelessness of carrying too much on my shoulders. That is what I felt when I walked into the Wolfson Campus advisement department at Miami Dade College.

The College has a detailed website that can answer nearly every question from enrollment to more complex ones. As a true millennial, I’ve almost completed my program without interacting with a school official.

When it came to transferring to another school though, I realized the website could not be my main source of information. Since desperate times require desperate measures, I decided to request the assistance of a human being.

I remember breathing heavily under my mask and my sweaty palms fluttering in my lap. I knew the conversation was vital for my future and I feared what I would be told wouldn’t appease my anxious thoughts.

I was right to be afraid.

Instead of talking about what I wanted to do in the future and what options were available for me, I spent the next 20 minutes sitting down in an uncomfortable plastic chair listening to my advisor suggest taking the path of least resistance by attending Florida International University and becoming a teacher despite my dreams to pursue a career in publishing.

Being a 23-year-old student with most of her academics in a foreign country with no savings or connections, I knew my advisor had my best interest at heart in telling me I should settle for what was within my reach.

However, mama didn’t raise a quitter.

I walked out of the meeting and decided to prove my advisor wrong. I convinced myself that all the bumps I had encountered along my path have developed my character.

The percentage of MDC students falling in the non-traditional category attending Ivy League schools is not a high number. The reason for this oftentimes is that students have no idea those schools are an option.

They may be unaware of their potential due to not being in an environment designed to nurture their abilities. My advisor took a quick look at my profile and deemed me unworthy, but I refuse my obstacles to define me.

I can aim high. So can you.

After researching schools, I was stunned to find programs for non-traditional students such as the School of General Studies at Columbia University and the Ada Comstock Scholars program at Smith College.

I also found scholarships such as the ones offered by La Unidad Latina—an organization devoted to assisting Hispanic students— Phi Theta Kappa and schools that offer 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated need such as Williams College.

We all have options, we just have to look for them.

If you feel like me, feel free to reach out for assistance with your transfer applications. You do not have to do it alone and settle for a conversation with someone who can see your potential yet could not be bothered to guide you into success.

Being different does not have to carry a negative connotation. Let’s embrace our tangled roots and get things done.