By Jackson Bassford

News Editor

We’re reaching the home stretch of the school year, and that’s a very exciting time for all students, especially seniors. Four years of high school are finally coming to a close, and we’re all starting a new chapter in our lives. Many college paths have already been decided, and career paths are being seriously considered. Students are already weighing the pros and cons to try and discover what will be the best for them and what will bring the most success to their future.

One thing I have noticed is how often so many people look down on community colleges and the students who choose to attend them. I’ve heard from many different people saying that their parents suggested a community college, and they just laughed it off and said they were going to go to a “real school” or that they wouldn’t even let that be an option when deciding their higher education. And I get it, Longview and Blue River aren’t as glamorous as large universities like Missouri or Kansas. They won’t offer the traditional college experience that other schools offer. But that’s okay, because they aren’t supposed to. Not everyone has large amounts of money from their parents (or earned by themselves) to throw at college tuition. Not everyone got the opportunity to apply for and be awarded with prestigious scholarships. And most importantly, not everyone has the time to be crippled with enormous amounts of student loans. I know that many students at South were enrolled in the A+ Program, which allows tuition at community college to be paid for in advance, which is a wonderful opportunity.

After my siblings and I left Faith Christian Academy, a Christian private school in North KC, my older sister went straight to Longview for two years. She worked extremely hard to get really good grades, obtained many scholarships due to those good grades, and eventually transferred to Oklahoma Baptist University, where she is finishing up her senior year and will be majoring in social work. She has told me on many occasions that some of the classes she took at Longview were more rigorous and time-consuming than the courses she is currently taking at OBU. She still got the college experience, but it just came later than usual. This is most likely my plan as well.

Community college is a good stepping stone up to a traditional university, and shouldn’t be looked down on. It is a good place to get your general education requirements out of the way and to decide what you’re interested in if you aren’t totally sure yet. Many intelligent, hard-working individuals attend community college, and their accomplishments aren’t any less because of where they are going to school.