My name is Alondra Vazquez. I am currently a second year in community college at Clover Park Technical College as a pre-nursing student. I chose to start off with community college just because it is less expensive compared to a university.
Also it was a better route for a pre-nursing student to start off at a community college instead of a university just to get into the nursing program.My career goals are basically graduating with my associates and continuing into a university program that offers a BSN to get my bachelors in nursing.
Community college is as I would say a bit cheaper than straight four year university. However, it still has some difficulties for students that do attend community college just because of the unexpected amounts when it comes to books and supplies that are needed in classrooms.
I did my first year when I went in. I was offered a free first year of college. However, they said that I was not qualified due to my FAFSA and along with that I struggled paying off my tuition by myself just because my FAFSA did not come in on time and I had to lose my work study position. So I had to look for other sources of funding to pay for my tuition.
The two years should be offered free for students just because I believe it gives the students an opportunity to save money. In case they do decide to pursue higher education like myself. I will be graduating with my associates but I plan on moving on forward with a bachelors. So if I can have the first years of college free, I could save the money for the bachelor’s degree and higher on. If I decide to go to my masters and so on.
Students struggle in affording higher education because most of the time their money goes to tuition, books, and fees first. So whatever they have leftover they use it for paying off their rent or anything else they need for housing.
Alondra Vazquez, Tacoma