Growing up I could have been classified as the nerd girl or even the snotty one. I had a path filled with lists and goals to get me to the end of the road. And I most certainly was not about to let something like where my friends were going to school or which school has the best parties stand in my way.

I was driven, to say the least. I was a girl on a mission and going to a community college was not on my list of things I needed to accomplish. It was sitting at the bottom of my list as a very last resort. Something I tossed up there just to keep the options open.

A year ago, the words “community college” were enough to make my stomach sick and my eyes roll deep into the back of my head. I was much too good for that I told myself. I had taken it so far in convincing myself that if I even thought about attending a community college my elite student status would disappear and I would somehow be less of a person.

The image I had conjured up in my mind was far from a pleasant one. My brain had wandered so far into the realm of possibilities of what a community college could be like. I expected a group of low class individuals. People that had no other options for school. I was expecting to walk into a room of people that graduated high school by the skin of their teeth.

I expected lower level education. With professors that were only teaching there because they couldn’t get a job elsewhere.

Community college was not what I expected.

My first day I quickly realized that all my expectations were about to be destroyed. I was welcomed into some amazing classes, with wonderful professors. Professors that truly care about my education. You will find the tough professors that aren’t awesome but you will also find the diamonds in the rough that will do everything they can to make learning easy for you.

The friends I have made so far are wonderful people. No matter how young or old, everyone there is on the same journey and you begin to form a team. Sitting in a booth studying with friends and drinking Starbucks while we listen to Netflix play in the background is one of those memories from college that I hope never fades away.

We may not be a university with elaborate dances, sororities, and tiny dorms where memories are made. But we are a community college of people trying to figure life out and get a great education and have fun while doing so.

I always thought that I would regret my time spent at a community college, but my thoughts have changed. I am thankful for the opportunities I have been exposed to and the people I have met so far. Community college is not what you expect, it’s so much more.