¶ … attaining a college education and degree, I do not think that I was identified as a college-bound person in High School. I know this statement sounds like a contradiction, but hopefully the explanation that follows will succeed in clearing up any ambiguity. To start with, I think it is important to understand that my high school persona was pretty much that of the typical, all-round, average American teenage girl. As such, I dressed according to the fashion statements of that time and hung out with the crowd I personally felt comfortable with. When I reflect back on my High School days, I believe that perhaps the image that I projected affected my identification as a college-bound person. I am consciously saying this because I am well aware of the prevalence of some rather unfortunate stereotypical profiling. For instance, it was, and perhaps still is, commonly perceived that the career goal of many teenage girls is to simply establish their own families.

Of course, to be honest, my average grades did not help matters any! Perhaps if I had consciously made an effort to associate with the college "prep" clique, my identification may have been different. But, for some reason, I could never see myself as belonging to that group even though I was hoping to attend a 4-year college or university. Neither did I make any effort to disassociate myself from the general or vocational track crowd.

I simply presumed that improving my grades would see me through to college. It never occurred to me that it would help my case if I were identified as a college bound person. Therefore, I made little or no effort to join any school club or activity that would support my becoming college bound.

Fortunately, I come from a family who worked towards...

In fact, my family made every effort to ensure that nothing came in the way of my efforts as a High School student.
My parents, in fact, brought me up to respect the value of a good education and the knowledge gained through it. Thus, for my parents, the importance of education went way beyond just the grades I achieved in school. Of course, this is not to say that the grades weren't important. They were, but for my parents the role they played was to serve as a benchmark and a goal. Every 'A' or good grade that was achieved was cause for a family celebration, while every poor or below average grade meant a family discussion on how I could improve on it. My father, in particular, used to spend a great deal of time in coaching me on my weak subjects or in holding lively discussions on points of interest.

My parents were also well aware of the American system of education and high school student role expectations. To that extent, they always encouraged me to take part in school activities that would help me build a sense of belonging. If at all, they imposed any restriction, it was only in the area of my social life, as they feared that too much partying would be detrimental to my academic effort and college goals.

Of course, like any normal teenager, I used to get rather disgruntled when my parents would not give me permission to socialize as frequently as I wished. Today, however, I am grateful for their wisdom, guidance, and support all through my student life.

My original plan was to attend a four-year college or university right…