During my senior year in high school I was trying to decide where I should go to college. I made sure each college I considered was a university. I was dead set on a certain university until around April when some things changed for me making it a little complicated to attend there. So my parents and I decided I would benefit more financially by going to a community college. That was the best decision I have probably ever made in all of my 19 years of life. Attending Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has taught me so many things and brought me so much joy in just my first four months of attendance.

The atmosphere and size of a junior college is completely different from a university. I come from a small town called Pascagoula, and when I stepped foot on the campus of MGCCC I felt as if I were still in my little small town. It’s a place where everybody knows everybody. There are many times at a senior college where the President, Vice President, or Director of Admissions would never know just a random student’s name. In the case of a junior college, it is a lot more personal and a lot more likely for these important figures within the college to know who you are because of the size of the school. One of the most amazing things ever about a junior college is the campus itself is like a small town. I feel like I get a lot more one on one time with my professors than I believe I would if I was at a university and they actually want to learn my name. I love the size of both of my small towns, my hometown, and my college town.

I have met some of the most amazing people and we have all become so close because we all live less than a mile from each other. My friend group is like those I had in high school. We are a huge group of people when you put us all into a room together and we all have respect and love for each other. We realize and understand we don’t have to do everything together because there are so many of us and we understand that we cannot all be together at all times. Unlike a university, most junior colleges don’t have sororities and fraternities or a lot of other clubs that set a certain criteria that students must meet in order to join. A lot of things are open to anyone who can and are willing to join them. I am in a lot of clubs and other things with most of my friends. We all do almost everything together and I think that is what brings us and has brought us so close together.

By far, I am not saying that any of these things are not possible to experience at a university; I am saying that through my experience I have become a lot happier than I thought I ever would have been. I believe everyone should consider junior college. For me personally, by going to a junior college, I am financially better off, close to home but not too close and with a great group of friends, faculty, and administrative team. It’s okay to go to a junior college to start off, I did it and I would do it all over again with no regret.