When I first arrived at the Eastfield campus, I felt like community college was a last resort compared to universities. A family emergency during the summer left me feeling unmotivated and alone in my journey, and I knew if I didn’t attend community college, I most likely wouldn’t be going to college at all.

I graduated from Mesquite High School in 2024, ranked eighth in my class of 586. I took a combination of dual-credit courses through Dallas College and AP courses to rack up credits before my college career. By graduation, I had 55 college credit hours combined. I knew I could have thrived in a four-year university, but I was discouraged by the application process and cost. I felt behind compared to most of my classmates who had already been accepted to their top schools on scholarship at a time where I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to study.

That summer, I attended a Dallas College registration event to get my paperwork submitted, be admitted and register for classes all at once. The event was a way for me to get the more tedious registration tasks that discouraged me from applying to a university out of the way.

In August of 2024, I started classes as a full-time student majoring in early childhood education. However, I began reconsidering the bachelor’s program I was studying for.

A friend recommended I join The Et Cetera newspaper, which helped me realize I wanted to carry the passion I held for journalism from high school to college. While in high school, I had the opportunity to produce the school news and learn from other students interested in media writing and communications. It was then I decided to switch to an associate of science program and transfer to a university for journalism.

I began my last classes required to graduate at the beginning of the 2025 spring semester, including general communications prerequisites for my field of interest. I also became more involved in TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) to attend career workshops and tour colleges around the state, and I solidified the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas as one of my top choices. TRIO also offered me the opportunity to tour colleges out-of-state in Washington, D.C. and attend a first-generation leadership conference in Miami, Florida, where I traveled with other TRIO students and made many of the connections and friendships I have today.

I am graduating with my associate of science this month, and then I’ll transfer to the University of North Texas to major in broadcast journalism. Though several family members have started and left college, I am the first in my family to earn an associate degree. Exploring opportunities and planning my future at Eastfield helped me realize what originally felt like a “last resort,” turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have made. Community college has allowed me to become more confident in college registration, networking and my career goals. I also realized how much money I saved by attending community college first, and I’ll be able to transfer to UNT as a junior, a year ahead of my peers.

No matter what background you come from, I hope my story inspires and validates students regardless of where they are at with their education, especially those who are figuring things out for themselves. I have younger siblings and cousins so, for me, graduating with my associate’s sets an example that strays from my family’s norms and pushes my younger family members to strive toward higher education.

Now that I am finally starting to feel confident in my education and aspirations, I advocate for all students, related to me or not, to embrace every opportunity, find the help they need and explore interests that feel personal and authentic to them.