community colleges was Banned from the Garden!--very longnowschool

Thank you Katrina ~ You have a great way with words!

As for my education, I mentioned I am taking Business Administration (first
year done), now I'm starting my accounting concentration. I plan on
completing the Canadian Payroll Program (which I already pretty much have
1/2 done The pay standards jump considerably with those letters after
your name Eventually, should I choose to complete my degree - most of my
credits are transferrable to many post secondary institutions.

My home is 'manufactured'. It's a Mini Home - the older version were/are
called trailers. Main difference is that my house has siding LOL~ ~!! When
we were researching our housing options we chose a mini home because A) It
was 2 years old when we bought it B) Very little if no maitenance C) easy
to sell later on.

As for any work being menial- that's uncalled for. Anyone who works hard
for their money should never be insulted because of the type of employment
they have.

Thanks again Katrina,

Sarah


"KDLark" wrote in message
...
Caryn,

your statement is so stunningly offensive and ignorant that I don't even
know where to start. Community colleges are about providing education
beyond highschool to those who

need it for a variety of reasons.

I went to a community college for three quarters, and left it with enough
credits to enter a state university as a junior. My grade point average
was
3.8 -- and I had "tested out" of many freshmen classes. Then I fooled
around
changing majors and it took three years to finish the last two years of
university studies. But I made up for it by finishing my four quarter
Master's
degree in three.

I went to Community college for several reasons. First, it was cheaper
than a
four year school. I was also a rather shy, timid, retiring sort of kid,
and my
parents thought going straight to the University would be too much for me.
My
mother also had a two year RN's degree from this community college, so I
suppose she wanted me in her alma mater...or something like that.

Couldn't get in to a "real" college! Ha! The guidance counselor had
taken one
look at my high school grades and said I could do anything I wanted to --
as
far as intelligence went. My parents had enough money that they hadn't
even
bothered to save for my education -- they paid for it as I went along
without
any change in our standard of living.

Here's another difference I've noticed between Community Colleges and
Universities -- the latter expects everyone to become a full time student.
My
husband, who had a BA in history, had to quit work and go back to college
full-time in order to get an education degree from the University or
Florida.
Ouch! Community colleges have more flexible scheduling, which comes very
much
in handy for non-traditional or working students.

We sent my daughter on to the university -- she is a motivated student and
mature for her age (well, most of the time!) My son is probably going to
go to
the local community college for a couple of years -- we want to keep an
eye on
that boy.

I bothers me that people are taking pot-shots at Sarah because she's A)
going
to a community college, B) working in some career field that everyone
seems to
think is menial (even though they don't know what it is) and C) lives in
what
we call a "manufactured home" (at least, I think that's what she means.)
Since
when do any of these things make someone's opinions of no value? She's
sure
holding her own in a pretty tough town, too! I might not agree with
everything
she's said, or the way she's said it, but she has a right to her opinion
and
the freedom to express it.

As we all do.

Katrina L.

Dr. Brat wrote:
Although the impression is that the best education is to be obtained at
an expensive four year institution, this isn't always the case, mostly
because one size education does not fit all. Expensive four year
institutions often have the best resources, but there are a lot of
pressures on the faculty to pay more attention to research than to the
students. Community colleges provide a wide range of services to the
communities they serve and often have the most innovative teaching going
on. For many students, the kind of attention they can get at a
community college is just the thing they need for those first two years
and that has nothing to do with money or smarts.

I got some terrific education at a community college in northern
Illinois. Many teachers with doctoral degrees. Hands on learning.
Small class sizes. LOTS of attention, coaching, encouragement. Some of
the students in my music theory class were already teachers (elementary)
and had come back to retrain. Their comments we this was a better
education than they got at their university!

Thanks, Elizabeth, for setting the record straight. One of the problems
with community colleges is that sometimes the records don't transfer.
So, one has to make sure of their future plans (where they will end up
going) to make sure the time they are spending at the comm. college
won't be wasted. For instance, to get my degree in music, Northwestern
wouldn't take my theory credits (I was bummed). But another one would.
In the end, I took a year's program (privately) with a prof from
Northwestern to get a course I couldn't get elsewhere. Where there's a
will, there's a way.

Dianne

My daughter went to the Community College during her Senior High School
year. She had done all the HS courses which she needed in order to graduate,
bar 2. She had also finished all their math courses, so she went to HS for
the two classes she needed, and the MD public education system sent her to
the CC to start work on higher lever math courses. After that she went to a
State Unicversity, got her MS in Math,; started work, and ultimately got her
masters at Johns Hopkins in Computer Science.

So, the Community College filled a need in her entire education.

At age 50, I started doing a lot of CC courses, for credit, just for the
sheer joy of it. I ran the gamut from Zoology, to History of Art, to
Accounting etc. I loved it!

Gillian
"KDLark" wrote in message
...
Caryn,

your statement is so stunningly offensive and ignorant that I don't even
know where to start. Community colleges are about providing education
beyond highschool to those who

need it for a variety of reasons.

your statement is so stunningly offensive and ignorant that I don't even
know where to start. Community colleges are about providing education
beyond highschool to those who need it for a variety of reasons.

I was speaking from my own experience with the two community colleges I have
been exposed to. And I did try to make that clear in my post.

I actually attended my local Community College for 3 classes, while I was
working fulltime and spending 4 hrs a day commuting by train. It was the only
local school offering Saturday morning classes. I took basic college classes
there, and I must say that compared to the classes I took at a four year
school, they were just about a joke.

The local Community College here sends me their catalog and my local campus
offers mostly introductory classes as well. I think maybe a couple computer
certification classes, but not a lot more.

These are the schools I was speaking of.

I did also say that there were "excellent" community colleges as well, I've
heard they exist, just haven't dealt with one myself.

My own degree is from a State school, and honestly, not one of the country's
best. I have never thought that the only education worth having is from an
"expensive four year school." I was just speaking from my own experience with
CC's and I tried to make that clear in my original post.

Caryn
Blue Wizard Designs
http://hometown.aol.com/crzy4xst/index.html
Updated: 7/7/03 -- now available Dragon of the Stars
View WIPs at: http://community.webshots.com/user/carynlws (Caryn's UFO's)

I should offer an apology, too. My own experiences with the local CC
have not been impressive. I took a graphic design class there that had
approximately 10 hours of homework for the whole class, and the only
people I know who went there straight out of high school _were_ the
people who couldn't get in anywhere else.

Meredith

Brenda Lewis wrote:

Caryn (or should I use the spell-check alternative of Carryon) wrote:
I was speaking from my own experience with the two community colleges I have
been exposed to. And I did try to make that clear in my post.

My apologies. I did figure that out eventually.

I actually attended my local Community College for 3 classes, while I was
working fulltime and spending 4 hrs a day commuting by train. It was the only
local school offering Saturday morning classes. I took basic college classes
there, and I must say that compared to the classes I took at a four year
school, they were just about a joke.

Sad to hear this. Some are truly wonderful. When I was in college I
attempted to supplement my income by tutoring. I had finished both
introductory classes and one intermediate class in my major so I chose
to tutor the introductory level. A CC student could not get a tutor
from the CC so she signed up with me for assistance with the first
introductory class. I was floored when she showed me the text for the
class. They were studying things in Intro. I that didn't come up at the
university until Inter. II--which meant I couldn't help her since I
hadn't learned the concepts yet.

The local Community College here sends me their catalog and my local campus
offers mostly introductory classes as well. I think maybe a couple computer
certification classes, but not a lot more.

I've received the mass mail CC catalogs from several different schools.
They usually do not send the full catalog out in these mailings. It
only includes classes they think the general public would want to take
on a casual basis. Computers, crafts, adult literacy, child rearing,
water safety, that kind of stuff. Dig deeper to see if that is the case
with your local CC.

I did also say that there were "excellent" community colleges as well, I've
heard they exist, just haven't dealt with one myself.

My own degree is from a State school, and honestly, not one of the country's
best. I have never thought that the only education worth having is from an
"expensive four year school." I was just speaking from my own experience with
CC's and I tried to make that clear in my original post.

Actually they are like any school. Each has strengths and weaknesses.
Even within a specific department there are good and bad points. Since
I know which school you attended, I have a little more understanding
about them not being one of the country's best. They are known for
certain things academically and even more for certain non-academic
things. DH was drawn here because they had a strong, productive group
of algebraists at the time he was searching for a tenure-track position.
Through him, I've been able to meet faculty from several area schools
including community colleges. One brilliant and wonderful man teaches
at Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College) because he doesn't want to do
research, publish or perish, bow and scrape for grants; he wants to
teach and he is very good at it. It matters to him that his students
"get it" when they take his classes. He hates artificial grade
inflation and administrative pressure just as much as DH--the
tribulations they face are essentially the same. I love to listen to
their discussions!

If you are ever in a position where you want/need to take classes again,
get the scuttlebutt on the local school as there may be some faculty
gems hidden under the dreck. At least at a CC the scheduling is
flexible enough you stand a good chance of getting the instructor you want.

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: J. Himsworth "I Shall Not Want" xs
J & P Coats "Dancing Snoopy" latchhook

Meredith wrote:
I should offer an apology, too. My own experiences with the local CC
have not been impressive. I took a graphic design class there that had
approximately 10 hours of homework for the whole class, and the only
people I know who went there straight out of high school _were_ the
people who couldn't get in anywhere else.

There are several Community Colleges local to where I last knew you to
be. Some are better than others. Some are better in some programs than
others. Middlesex has a national reputation for excellence in some of
its programs. But that's like any school, some programs are better than
others, no matter where you go. The college I teach at has a far better
reputation in Nursing and Education than in most of its Liberal Arts
programs, for example, although its geography program is nationally
recognized.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*barnacle-encrusted bitch~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*