My path from high school to college has been less than conventional. I started taking college classes in the fall of my junior year of high school through a program called the Blue Water Middle College Academy. This meant that in 11th grade I had four classes at my Port Huron Northern and two at the St. Clair County Community College. In my senior year, I was down to just three classes at PHN and three at SC4. This was easy for me, as I wasn't remarkably involved in high school activities besides marching band and drama club, both of which worked marvelously with my college schedule!
The biggest effect Middle College had on my high school experience began at graduation. To fulfill the requirements for both high school and Middle College and earn both my high school diploma and my associate's degree, I would have to stay at my community college for another year. I was allowed to walk with my class and go through the entire graduation ceremony, I just didn't receive a usable diploma. Then when all of my friends were moving off to college in the fall, I stayed home and spent my "13th Year" at SC4. It was a comfortable year staying on the same campus I had been a part of for a two years already, but I couldn't help but notice how different my experiences were than my friends'. While they were attending Welcome Week activities, I was at the kitchen table in my childhood home finishing my homework. I noticed how much freedom my friends had now that they were away and I felt a bit left out.
I graduated from Middle College with my General Education associate's degree in May 2015 and was all set to head off to my first year at a real university, Western Michigan University. I had already hit a bit of a snag when I applied, as I had acquired my high school diploma and associate's degree at the same time and I was unaware if that qualified me as a freshman or a transfer student. I emailed some professors and explained my situation and was advised to apply as a freshman. I now believe that I made the wrong decision in following their advice, as I was put in a class called "First Year Experience" where we learned the differences between high school and college. This information was rather useless to me, as I had already experienced a college environment through my time at SC4. I muscled through that class and at the end of the first semester I was considered a junior.
However exciting that leap from "freshman" to junior was; somewhere in my first semester I had begun to feel a little out of place at Western, and not just because I was treated like a freshman. In the middle of my second semester, I started to look into transfer opportunities, namely to Oakland University so I could pursue a degree in Musical Theatre (my life's passion). I began to talk to my parents, academic advisors, anyone I could who could help me with this next and massive-step. I auditioned at Oakland and unfortunately was not accepted. While I was very disappointed, I didn't stop looking.
This past summer, I applied to Wayne State and Rochester College, barely making the transfer application cutoff date for both schools, and I discovered that I could audition for Rochester College's Musical Theatre department via email. After a few campus visits and in the middle of performances and rehearsals for a musical and play, I was in, respectively, I sent in my audition video. I waited about two agonizing weeks before I learned that I had been accepted into Rochester's department and I was thrilled! This meant that I had to arrange housing and register for classes immediately as classes were starting soon and dorm buildings were filling up quickly. I managed to get everything done in time and was all set to go start this new chapter at my third college. I was invited to participate in Welcome Week this past week, and I did so gladly, but I was classified as a New Student rather than a freshman, which I was very pleased with.
I am so excited to see what new opportunities my time at Rochester will bring, and to quote Little Orphan Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here."
