My life is in two eras, the era of not reading at all and the era of reading a lot. I sit in my room, looking around. Books and publications are strewn all over the room, on the study table, dressing table, under the bed, on the spare chair, on the shoe rack, and in the closet. My love for books developed out of frustrations. Everybody in class in high school followed particular programs on TV except me. It seemed odd that I grew up without a TV. However, the lack of a TV made me turn to books for inspiration and entertainment. I remember leaving class one day to go to the library because I did not have a story to tell. I felt odd and became bitter with my dad, whom I blamed for the lack of a TV. Although I knew his financial status, I was angry with him for making my life hard in high school. My anger and bitterness led me to the library as my mind and heart continued to race out of rage.
I picked my first book, Sophocles' Antigone, and started going through it while standing. After reading the first few pages, I realize that Antigone is a descendant of Oedipus (Sophocles, 1888) . I fanned through the book pages to read more. Reading that play increased my understanding of political and legal concepts surrounding governments globally. Although the play is set in Thebes and written in Athens, I realized that it explores various contemporary aspects such as the concept of family vs. state and state control. These concepts gave me the urge to proceed to college to learn more about how governments operate. I pictured myself going to college right after graduating from high school.
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Since I had already fallen in love with literature, I pictured myself joining a college that supports career-planning counselling and offers academic programs that incorporate arts, social sciences, and humanities, to promote critical thinking, creativity and innovation, collaboration, and networking, and communication. Communication concepts will help me learn how to interact and socialize with others. Although socialization starts at birth, secondary socialization is critical when starting a new experience, such as joining college and living a global pandemic (Class Notes, 2021) . Liberal arts programs will also help me understand how to handle people based on their differences. They will also make me understand the influence of others on my behavior.
Although I did not have any family members who went to college, my dad always emphasized the significance of college education. He would give me examples of individuals who went to college and benefitted from college education. He attached a strong value to college education, and he always said that college education gives one personal identity since it equips one with critical thinking skills. Furthermore, he mentioned that college education is significant in enabling one to understand the culture. For instance, since it offers necessary critical thinking skills, it allows individuals to understand the culture, helping them to express themselves and give them the ability to reason.
I had an interesting experience when applying for college. I already knew what I wanted, and I was working towards my goal. I consulted people who gave me the necessary information regarding college education and college life. I was excited because I knew the application would allow me to shape social structure. Both humans and social structures influence one another to create and maintain a society. I was also thrilled during the application process because I am the first individual from my family to join college. This fact implies that I was already changing the social structure and societal beliefs. My application also encouraged other students under my mentorship program to apply to various colleges. Various social forces, including financial status, have made it difficult for their family members to pursue college education. My application renewed their hopes, encouraging them to apply. Furthermore, applying also made me acquire new social status, implying that society expected me to perform my roles diligently in these new social positions.
Various external factors influenced my decision to come to BMCC. First, my high school friends in my peer support group encouraged me to consider BMCC because of my personality. I am interested in helping others discover their identity and their sense of self. I noticed that BMCC also helps students to understand who they are and how they should live. The institution also helps them discover what they want to become after their college education. In contemporary society, most people tend to focus on what others are doing instead of focusing on features that make them unique. I intend to continue encouraging other people to discover their true selves and stop comparing themselves with others. I also intend to use my personal experience of growing up without television to encourage more individuals to pursue their strengths and stop focusing on their weaknesses.
Second, my high school teachers influenced my decision to join BMCC. Teachers are great influencers (Amaki, 2018) . My teachers always reminded me that I had the potential to change the social structure, and they insisted that I join BMCC to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for effecting the change.
The third factor was the quality of education and the learning environment at BMCC. I realized that BMCC offers high-quality education to all its students. The college records an improving passing rate in all courses, and it has numerous awards for its ability to promote continuing education. Moreover, the institution has a conducive learning environment that makes it accommodate students from diverse cultures. The ability to accommodate diverse students also enhances the institution's graduation rates and retention (BMCC, 2021) . BMCC also offers comprehensive career counselling programs to enable students to spell out their career objectives and make informed decisions regarding their study areas.
My experience relates to those of Christine, Enoch, and Karoline in various ways. First, feeling odd in the company of others propelled me to encourage others to pursue college education. Second, just like the three individuals, I performed the role of college counsellor by working with the relevant individuals to help my peers get to college. Our high schools lacked enough college counselors prompting us to take up the role. Third, just like the three, I trained to become a career counsellor in my school.
In conclusion, the documentary, Personal Statement , was well organized with relevant information regarding peer college counsellors in high schools. I liked the documentary because it encourages high schools to train and work with peer career counsellors since most schools lack enough college counsellors (Dressner, 2018) . However, I disliked the fact that it mixed languages, using subtitles at some point. This presentation forces a viewer to fix their eyes on the screen reading the subtitles instead of focusing on the presented information. I learned that external forces shape people’s experiences and choices. In the documentary, the three peer college counselors opted to become counsellors because of their personal experiences. They made this decision to help others not to go through similar experiences. Writing this assignment made me realize that I have great potential and that I am ready to use my experiences to make society a better place. I also discovered that I am keen on changing the societal structure.
References
Amaki, Y. (2018). External and Internal Factors Influencing University Transfer Students and College Life Satisfaction, with Consideration of the Population Problem in Japan. Global Journal of Human Sciences: Linguistics and Education, 18 (12), 1-11.
BMCC. (2021, March 6). Our Students . Retrieved from Borough of Manhattan Community College: https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/about-bmcc/our-students/
Class Notes. (2021). Social interactions, socialization, and the influence of others.
Dressner, J. (Director). (2018). Personal Statement [Motion Picture].
Sophocles. (1888). Antigone. Boston: Ginn & Company.
