# Going to a Community College



## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

After having dropped out last fall from a university, I'm going back to college next week to get an associates of science (basically covers gen-ed courses for a four year degree, so you do two years at the CC and two years at the university after for a bachelors).

I'm nervous and not at all excited, but if I can make it through it, hey, it'll hopefully lead to a better life!:grin2:


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## RubixQ (Jul 29, 2014)

Best of luck!


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## meandernorth (Nov 12, 2014)

Good luck!


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

Perhaps I was too quick to post this to the triumphs thread.... It's causing massive mood swings and random bouts of depression.... Damn you, college! D:


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## meandernorth (Nov 12, 2014)

The thought of college can honestly be stressful so nobody would fault you for being apprehensive. Once the coursework begins, you'll probably fall into a rhythm and that will help. I'm sure you'll do well. No doubt.


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## tidbit (May 13, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> Perhaps I was too quick to post this to the triumphs thread.... It's causing massive mood swings and random bouts of depression.... Damn you, college! D:


What's wrong?

I'm finishing up at CC in December, and transferring to a university. 
CC can be tough, but it's great place to find your footing when it comes to higher level school work. It's good prep. That's why I went this route first, plus the cost is so much more cheaper.

Don't give up just yet OP, hang in there for awhile!


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## whocares187 (May 23, 2015)

good luck. cut out drinking/weed a full week before major tests. this sounds trivial but it isn't. also girls can be a mind boggle and I debated as I graduated if I should have pursued them more in order to find my one and only, or if I should have avoided them completely to be free of the games some of them play.


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

tidbit said:


> What's wrong?


I'm not sure, especially considering I actually only have one course on campus. It's just stressing me out randomly and causing insomnia spikes. Also, I can pretty much sense the first day of class on-campus;

"Alright, everyone, go ahead and group yourselves..."
*Throws desk out the window and flees*

Additionally, when I can't sleep, I binge eat on junk food, so I put on fat, which is not what I want, because I'm in to amateur bodybuilding. I've had three nights like that just this week.


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## tidbit (May 13, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> I'm not sure, especially considering I actually only have one course on campus. It's just stressing me out randomly and causing insomnia spikes. Also, I can pretty much sense the first day of class on-campus;
> 
> "Alright, everyone, go ahead and group yourselves..."
> *Throws desk out the window and flees*
> ...


What kind of class are you going to take? 
Is the class stressing you out, or is it the thought of just attending the class stressing you out?


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

tidbit said:


> What kind of class are you going to take?
> Is the class stressing you out, or is it the thought of just attending the class stressing you out?


Just general education stuff, in this case the only on campus class I'll be taking is math.

I couldn't care less about attending, it's just that I know the professor will force me into a social situation I don't want to be in. If I could just go to class and not talk to anyone or have to worry about getting into groups, I could breeze through college.


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## ladyscuttle (Jan 29, 2012)

That's awesome. Good on you!


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## Kanzi (May 10, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> Just general education stuff, in this case the only on campus class I'll be taking is math.
> 
> I couldn't care less about attending, it's just that I know the professor will force me into a social situation I don't want to be in. If I could just go to class and not talk to anyone or have to worry about getting into groups, I could breeze through college.


I got an A.S. in Math from a community college, and I've worked with CC professors as a tutor and supplemental instructor. I can tell you that math professors are the least likely to make their students do silly exercises on the first day, such as learning everyone's names with bingo, or forcing everyone to work in groups. I've seen that done in "softer" courses such as psychology, public speaking, and even biology, but not math. Mathematicians usually do not engage with such nonsense. :wink

But I think you are right to expect that at some point during college you will assigned to work in a group, but we can deal with that scenario when it comes up.


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## tidbit (May 13, 2015)

Kanzi said:


> I got an A.S. in Math from a community college, and I've worked with CC professors as a tutor and supplemental instructor. I can tell you that math professors are the least likely to make their students do silly exercises on the first day, such as learning everyone's names with bingo, or forcing everyone to work in groups. I've seen that done in "softer" courses such as psychology, public speaking, and even biology, but not math. Mathematicians usually do not engage with such nonsense. :wink
> 
> But I think you are right to expect that at some point during college you will assigned to work in a group, but we can deal with that scenario when it comes up.


Yeah, I agree with this. I take a lot of math classes at CC and never had to do introductions. Most take attendance, introduce themselves, and start work. Math teachers never really care what/who you are. They just want to get you to learn math. :lol

OP, you will have to face groups sometime. But not often. The only time I had groups was for an English class and that was just for proofreading. I think you're just stressing yourself out over this too much.
Go to the class, you'll feel better about it afterwards I think.


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

You guys are making me feel a bit better about perhaps trying to stick it out. However, while I was at university, my Calc professor had us do group stuff weekly. x.x

Of course, 'twas English killed the beast, with group stuff almost daily.... There are only 12 students in my math class this term, so perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but a low number of students is a double-edged sword. On one hand, less people, on the other, less possibilities to find someone you might connect with. But, I already bought books, so I suppose it's a bit late to turn back now.


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## shyguy07 (Mar 22, 2015)

I loved community college! Really it was awesome and I miss it. Out of the classes I took I think only maybe English I and Accounting ever had us work in groups and it was mostly for proofreading and studying. It wasn't a big deal, most everyone in the groups were nice and mostly just focused on the work. It wasn't like they made me feel like I was the odd one out in the group. Usually the professors would assign the groups or it was just the people you were sitting close to that were in the group. Also in almost all classes the desks were in rows, across the room, not bunched in groups. In my physics class, it was groups at each lab table, but I actually met one of my best friends at my table there. And the only class where we had to introduce ourselves to the class was student management or something like that.

Oh, and I remember in stats we did work in groups sometimes. I remember my professor assigning groups and she was trying to introduce me to the group and she was like "And here's a classmate..." it was kind of awkward, but funny looking back on it.


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## Kanzi (May 10, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> You guys are making me feel a bit better about perhaps trying to stick it out. However, while I was at university, my Calc professor had us do group stuff weekly. x.x
> 
> Of course, 'twas English killed the beast, with group stuff almost daily.... There are only 12 students in my math class this term, so perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but a low number of students is a double-edged sword. On one hand, less people, on the other, less possibilities to find someone you might connect with. But, I already bought books, so I suppose it's a bit late to turn back now.


Out of curiosity, what group stuff did your Calc professor have you do?

Now that I come to think of it, I did have one math professor who made us work problems in groups occasionally, but this was only 1 out of about 20 math courses I took! (I got a B.S. in Math as well.) So I think you'll do fine. :smile2:


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## tidbit (May 13, 2015)

I think I had a few group work assignments in a few math classes, but I just stayed quiet the whole time and worked the problem out, and gave someone my paper to see if it matched up. Or I just stayed in the back and worked alone. Preferred it that way 'cause I hate study groups because everyone has their own way of doing things and it just messes me up.


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

> Out of curiosity, what group stuff did your Calc professor have you do?
> 
> Now that I come to think of it, I did have one math professor who made us work problems in groups occasionally, but this was only 1 out of about 20 math courses I took! (I got a B.S. in Math as well.) So I think you'll do fine. :smile2:


A lot of breaking up into teams to work out problems and then share our answers. He would assign like 20 things with 20 minutes to solve all the problems, then he was like, "Break up into groups and split the problems up!"



> I'm nervous too. Attempting college for the first time this fall after 8 years of no school. I'm not ready and don't think I will ever be. But I need to start something. Anything. Because it's killing me. My current plan when it comes to speaking in front of people is to take risks, just do it, make mistakes and look stupid.


Yeah, I understand you not being ready, I don't believe I'll ever be ready either... But eh, I can take solace in knowing I'm not alone in going into this. :smile2:


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## omniamis (Apr 17, 2015)

I always feel really upset when I see community college being referred to like its just nothing, a walk in the park. Growing up there was no difference between a CC and a 4 year in my neighborhood. College is college.


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## Kanzi (May 10, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> A lot of breaking up into teams to work out problems and then share our answers. He would assign like 20 things with 20 minutes to solve all the problems, then he was like, "Break up into groups and split the problems up!"


Oh, I see. Well, hopefully you won't have to do anything like that. Although even if you do, it may be good preparation for courses that have more structured and required group activities, such as science lab courses.


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## Whiteout9 (Mar 29, 2015)

Best of luck to you man. I dropped out of community college twice cause of nervous breakdowns. I hope I can one day go back


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

So, I just got home from being stuck up there since 10:00 AM, it's now 3:00 PMish for me, and I gotta say, it kinda sucked. As I stated, I only have one lecture on campus this term, however, it's 3 ****ing hours long. :L 

Overall, there were no groups (today), but I feel as though I should drop out now and only have a small debt, rather than trying to tackle this, knowing full well, that, when group work is called upon, either in this class or some other, I won't be able to handle it. And I think it would be wise to bail now and have less debt than collecting a truckload of debt, then deciding I can't do it.


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## Kanzi (May 10, 2015)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> So, I just got home from being stuck up there since 10:00 AM, it's now 3:00 PMish for me, and I gotta say, it kinda sucked. As I stated, I only have one lecture on campus this term, however, it's 3 ****ing hours long. :L
> 
> Overall, there were no groups (today), but I feel as though I should drop out now and only have a small debt, rather than trying to tackle this, knowing full well, that, when group work is called upon, either in this class or some other, I won't be able to handle it. And I think it would be wise to bail now and have less debt than collecting a truckload of debt, then deciding I can't do it.


Dude, it's a community college course, so I'm assuming the debt from this one course won't even be very much. Plus, are you in therapy at the moment? Your therapist (hopefully CBT practitioner) can help you cope and even lessen your anxiety about taking face-to-face courses.

Taking this course seems like a step forward for you in taking back control from anxiety, and dropping the course right now would seem like many steps back.

You can handle this course! We will deal with with the more stressful courses in the future. Plus, you should apply for disability at your school for your social anxiety. That way, you will be able to do alternative individual assignments instead of group ones.

At least get this one course out of the way, and decide after whether you want to continue on to potentially more stressful courses.


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

Kanzi said:


> Dude, it's a community college course, so I'm assuming the debt from this one course won't even be very much. Plus, are you in therapy at the moment? Your therapist (hopefully CBT practitioner) can help you cope and even lessen your anxiety about taking face-to-face courses.
> 
> Taking this course seems like a step forward for you in taking back control from anxiety, and dropping the course right now would seem like many steps back.
> 
> ...


Well, I already withdrew today... The only down side I can see to that is that I now have $600 in debt due to a crappy book return policy. Of course, that will force me to get a job, which will force me to interact with people, etc., so it's a double-edged sword. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

But, the degree was an Associates of Science, which I've read is useful if you want an entry level job that still pays you in dirt, so to speak. So, I'd have to go four years, and I don't think I'm ready for that, so eh.

Also, I'm not sure my therapist actually knows anything. Well, I think she knows that I'm hopeful, and as Red says, Hope is an evil thing. Because she knows I will keep going and spending money, though I may never get anything out of it.

As for the disability there, well.... I did register for it, but it was pretty much pointless. They only awarded me alternate testing areas, which doesn't affect me either way, because I have no problem with tests. :I

The university I went to gave amazing disability accommodations, Limited Group Work, Alternate Presentations... Ah, but this one sucked.


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