College? Why Now?

Born and Raised in Philadelphia, I am a product of the Philadelphia Public School “System.” I had the good fortune of having many great teachers through the years, and some well… let’s just say probably I could have done with out.

I was in advanced classes in junior high school and I graduated in the top 20% of my high school class. But that is where the education journey stopped for me until 2001 when I made my first attempt at college. After presentations on city planning at the annual Economy League staff conference, I returned energized and immediately headed to Community College of Philadelphia for the fall semester.

Although I was earning an “A” in my coursework, the demands of work and family and, now, college exhausted my time, and I was unable to complete that first semester. I let my English professor down, as well as myself. I was tired and just couldn’t do it anymore. So now here I am, trying to decide if I should return to school… again.

Even though I was on a college bound track in high school, I wasn’t pushed to actually get to college. I attended a vocational school taking business courses. I learned typing, bookkeeping, and data processing  (on keypunch!). Who needed to know more? I knew what I needed to get a job, and when I was a teenager, that was what I wanted.

But as I look back, I wonder why teachers didn’t introduce us to all of the exciting things you can do with your life? The options that learning algebra, science, and history hold for you? It was hard to enjoy studying capital “H” history without knowing where it could lead. Twenty years later, I am glued to the History Channel: History’s Lost and Found and all the American history and biography series, plus I’m hooked on the Science Channel and How It’s Made and Mega Builders on PBS. Yes, I watch too much TV, but I learn a lot.

It took actually getting out into the working world to know, for example, what manufacturing was all about and how exciting it is to see metal turned into a finished product. Had I known about things like this when I was in school, who knows where I’d be or what I would be doing. So why I didn’t know?

I do feel let down by the school system. Sure, it taught me the basics: I can read and write. But I would have liked to have known where learning the Periodic Table of Elements would take me instead of only knowing that I needed to know it to pass the class and graduate.

Our teachers and counselors (and family) need to take time to present options to kids and connect the schoolwork to life after school.

Because having the degree is so necessary for advancement, I feel I now have to decide whether or not it is right for me to go back to school. At this point in my life, the decision is even more complex with a husband on shift work and a toddler at home. Is the drawback of missing more time away from them outweighed by the benefit of having the diploma? (Never mind the financial impact on our household.) Then again, I could be that parent who makes sure that her daughter fulfills her potential.

I didn’t think I’d find myself having to make this type of a decision again. But knowing what I know now, what is certain is that I’ll be sure to guide my daughter down the right path.

--Meredith Garfield, Administrative Associate