Reaching For The Stars At MDC

College is nothing like high school, yet sometimes college can feel exactly like high school. However, in my experience there is one main difference: college has many more resources than high school does. Between labs, professors’ office hours, academic advisers and even mental health counseling, help is always there—as long as we make time for it.

In college, I’ve learned how crucial it is to learn how to manage your time, because your future is at stake. My first week of college was filled with anxiety because I feared not making the correct choices, which could lead my future into a ditch. Picking classes and times that correspond with my part-time job and getting involved with the college newspaper can be a lot to manage.

I’m no adviser, but I can say one thing: in order to be successful in college you must want to be successful and want to make time for the work required. The aid is there, the professors are there, but will you show up? Will you spend those long nights studying and your evenings in tutoring and labs to perfect your craft? You must love what you do to be motivated to invest extra time and energy in it.

Folding under pressure should be a thing of the past. You finally have a say in your life’s outcome. You have the chance to become exactly who you want to be. Success is when opportunity meets preparation, and college is where you prepare to handle the opportunity that presents itself to you. My experiences have sometimes been exhausting and frustrating, but there’s no place I’d rather be than Miami Dade College.

For the first time, I’m around innovators who don’t just want to make money but want to change the trajectory of the world. I have met activists and journalists that plan to make a difference in the world. School is more than just taking classes. It’s a college that is based on a community of individuals who change their circumstances and brighten up every aspect of the college experience.

So, don’t be bummed out that you’re starting at a community college, because MDC is full of professors who don’t take no for an answer and are willing to go to amazing lengths to give students a place to speak their mind and help them reach for the stars. As long as I am at MDC I will remain limitless, and you should too.