My name is Diana Pinon. I am the oldest sibling and daughter in a family of four. I am also a first generation college and university graduate. I attended Everett Community College and transferred to Washington State University to obtain my bachelors in communications.
I was able to land a job at a newspaper shortly after graduating from WSU. I decided to attend EvCC because it was close to home and I had received a scholarship. Attending EvCC also fit within my goal of transferring into a four year university. After the pandemic, my career goal changed to working in the medical field as a Spanish medical interpreter to help the Latino/Hispanic communities.
Community college is a great option for low income families or for people that are uncertain about career options. There’s a lot of help offered at community colleges. For example, there are scholarships and grants that can help you with the tuition costs, but you still need to pay for books, materials, transportation, etc. I am aware that community college is the most affordable route for post secondary education. Personally, I have not really faced any financial barriers with accessing post secondary education. My only concern was when I transferred to WSU, tuition was higher than EvCC. I was concerned about WASFA not covering my full tuition and having to pay out of pocket. Luckily, everything was covered except for books and supplies, which made it more manageable. I will say that getting books on time was a struggle, but I found ways around it by the professors providing a pdf of the first few chapters of the book or my friends sharing their books with me.
Guaranteeing the first two years of college for CTC students would have a positive impact on them. A lot of people don’t pursue higher education because of the affordability. Many who do, receive some sort of financial help or assistance. If it was more accessible or free, more people would at least get an associates or some higher degree, especially people of color.
Diana Pinon, Bothell