When the clock strikes midnight, and the calendar reads January 1, 2015, will you be one day away from another winter session at EC?
While the prior is unlikely, it is a fact that for many students, community college can discreetly turn into a four-year school.
“It’s totally different from high school,” Jon Duzich, 20, communications major, said. “Once you reach EC, you have more freedom, and the option of living on your own, which makes it tougher to get out in two years.”
Duzich, a third-year-sophomore, and many of his fellow EC students, experiences the difficulty of being a full-time student and to work full time.
“It is a completely new lifestyle, working and all, and I think people have trouble adjusting,” Duzich said. “However, nobody should worry about taking over two years to get their degree.”
Another issue that prolongs students enrollment is indecision, which is what Stephen Ibemere, 20, radiology major, faced.
“As a freshman, I didn’t know what I wanted to major in,” Ibemere said. “I figured out my major, but I wish I knew it from the beginning.”
In an effort to inform themselves about what major to choose, or what classes to take, students often seek the guidance of an academic counselor.
“You must talk to the counselors first,” Britney Scott, 22, journalism major, said. “Most people think they can do it on their own, but they need assistance.”
Upon entrance to EC as a freshman, students often score low on the placement tests in English and math, which leaves them one to two classes short of degree-applicable courses.
Thus, many students have to take close to 70 units in order to graduate.
This would break down to 17.5 units a semester, if planning on attending during fall and spring only. Combining this amount of class time with work makes for a heavy load, and pushes students into school year round.
“I never really attended summer or winter session classes,” Gardy Achille, 22, liberal studies/ business major, said. “I knew that since I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t get out in two years.”
