Pitney 1

Maxwell Pitney

Deby Jizi

UWRT 1103-030

26 January 2018

Community College

One of the most amazing things that I’ve experienced was going to community college at

CPCC. For my essay, I won’t be reflecting on how a single event changed my life. I think of it

more as two-year experience at the end of my high school career. Going into it I really wasn’t

sure what it would be like, but I was still excited. I quickly learned that it was one of the most

valuable things I could’ve ever done. I genuinely think it changed me for the better, and I

couldn’t be more grateful that I had the opportunity.

I had first heard that my school had a program my sophomore year when my mom

brought it up saying that I should investigate. I did some research and was almost instantly

hooked. I told my parents I wanted to pursue the idea and they were completely supportive. After

many different tours and meetings, I made the decision final, I was going to CPCC. I started with

signing up for only 1 math class. Now, I just had to wait for my junior year to come around.

Finally, after a long summer, the first day of classes came and although nervous, I was

very excited to see how it would be. Up until that point, I had only taken one AP class and was

currently enrolled in another. So, I basically only had experience with high school teachers. By

the end of that first class I already knew it was going to be a great time. My teacher was

incredibly nice and showed us that she was nothing but supportive. Almost all my high school

teachers up till that point only cared about getting through the year and not making sure we were

learning.
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From then on, till the end of high school, I was enrolled in CPCC courses. Not only did I

get to take classes that I was passionate about, but they really gave me an idea of how full-time

college would be. I realized I had a lot of growing to do if I wanted to be successful. A lot of

freshmen only realize this once it’s too late, and it’s much harder to get back on track. I believe

this gave me a huge advantage over most of my peers. I knew how to control myself when given

freedom. I adapted much faster to the big change than a lot of my other friends.

Of course, being invested in my courses also led to me doing better and more consistent

work. I’d always walk out of class having learned something new and be excited to sit down and

work on the homework. I also felt like the work I was doing was providing me with useful

information. There were many times throughout high school when the work seemed to be there

just to keep us busy. At the end of each semester I could look back and really see that I did learn

a lot. It may have been more difficult, but it was much more valuable than the stuff I was doing

in high school.

Even compared to the AP courses that I took, CPCC courses were simply just more

engaging. It really changed the way I looked at school work, and how I should study. I realized I

can’t wait till last minute to do assignments, and when I do them they have to be quality. If I put

in hard work all the time, the formal assignments come easy. It makes life a lot more stressful

and gives me more time to focus on myself. I ended up being a better person overall. I also got

exposure to many different types of people because it was a much bigger campus.

My high school was very large, at 3000 kids, but CPCC was not only bigger but it also

had a more mature study body. This meant class time was much more productive as people were

paying money to attend and not forced like high school students. Again, this really helped with
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the transition to becoming a full-time college student. I have areas to improve on, but I also

know that I have put a lot of hard work towards being successful here at UNCC.

I am very grateful that I had access to something like that, and how much my parents did

to make sure I succeeded. I believe that if I came to college with only experiencing high school, I

wouldn’t make it. It let me be an adult and have some of the freedoms, without so much

pressure. I was able to feel my way around college and adapt at my own pace. It still is a difficult

change, but because of CPCC I am on the path to greatness here at UNCC and beyond.