I was very incredulous as I sat and listened to her. I went from incredulous, to dismayed, to spitting mad. What in the world were they thinking? What had she received only a part of the story? Settle down, I told myself. Don’t jump to conclusions.
My friend was a young mother, raising two small children on her own. She has a dream; to get an education so she can provide a better life for her children and herself. She has been taking classes at a regional community college on and off since high school. She now has focus and drive. As a part of that drive, she went to the counseling center at the college to get an assessment of her transcript. What did she need to be able to transfer? When could she transfer to the four year university? How could she get all she could out of the community college? Could she transfer soon?
She was given a list of all the classes she needed to complete to have her general education certified upon her transfer to a four year university. She was soooo close to fulfilling all the classes. Her desire was to transfer in fall 2011. To do that, and complete all her general education classes, she was told she needed to take a heavy load this spring; Macro-Economics, History, English, Math, and a science class too? She felt she could not handle all those courses in one term with her job, children and other responsibilities. That left her with one class to take in the fall. One class of 3 units was keeping her from transferring. Could she then transfer in the spring? No, because the four year university only takes fall transfer students. She explained to me how she would have to wait AN ENTIRE YEAR to get into the four year university because of ONE class. No wonder she was discouraged. But, wait. I told her, “That’s not true. Didn’t they tell you about transferring without having your general education completed? That there are only 4 classes you need and 60 units total of transferable credit to be eligible to transfer. No? No one mentioned that? Really?” It became apparent as we reviewed her transcript, that if she had only known, she could have transferred easily in the fall, with only one general education class to take at the university. She would not be adding another year to her educational time. To top it off, she has been informed her financial aid is on hold because she is not making satisfactory academic progress. Such a catch 22 situation. I was spitting mad.
I take a breath. Settle down, I tell myself. I am an educational consultant. There has to be another solution to this mother’s dilemma. I tell her, “Appeal the issue of the satisfactory progress to the college.” Done. “Check out other programs in the area. What about a degree completion program? You could be done in 18 months?” To her, that sounds like a plan made in heaven. Then she will be ready to apply for graduate school. She will receive guidance from me in the process, helping her to weigh all the options available. What she needed from the beginning of this process, was an educational consultant. We are the ones who see the entire picture and think outside the box.
But I am still spitting mad.
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