I’ve been taking part-time courses at South Puget Sound Community College for about three years now. I work full time, so college has always been something I do on the side—slowly, consistently, whenever I can. After high school, I took a gap year to figure myself out, and when I was ready, community college felt like the right place to start.
I chose community college mainly because of affordability. My goal is to transfer to a four-year university for entertainment management, that means I have to save—a lot. Staying close to home while I work on my first two years just makes financial sense. I can keep living here, keep working, and build a foundation before taking that next big step.
Higher education matters to me because I think it gives people direction. It helps you find a path you can build a stable life around—something you actually enjoy and can grow in. For me, college feels like a more direct way of getting where I want to go. It gives me a chance to specialize, to explore, and to figure out what success looks like for me.
When it comes to affordability, community college is definitely more reasonable than a four-year university. My first year, I was able to cover almost everything through grants and scholarships. This year, I’ve been paying for classes slowly as I go. I haven’t been hit with the hardest financial barriers personally, but I know how quickly that can change—and I’ve seen friends who had to step back because they couldn’t manage tuition on top of rent, food, and transportation.
That’s why I think guaranteeing the first two years of college for CTC students would make a huge difference. If people knew they could just go to college without carrying the financial burden on their backs, so many more students would earn their associate degrees. Community college helps people develop critical thinking, explore their interests, and figure out their direction. A lot more people would end up in better jobs and better positions in life if those first two years were guaranteed.