When I was a senior in high school, my parents tried very hard to convince me to go to our local community college. They made countless arguments about how I’d be debt free and how I’d get the same level of education since our local community college is one of the best in the country. And whenever I argued back about wanting the “typical college experience,” they’d say I could get that when I transferred.
Still, nothing they said could make me overlook the fact that my local community college felt like high school 2.0. I didn’t want to live at home with my parents when all my closest friends were going off to four-year schools. So what if I’d have a bit more debt? I wanted the experience! In a lot of ways, I had tunnel vision and only saw one way that college should play out for me.