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Personal Portfolio Essay My journey as a student started out as a young child. Coming from nurturing parents, I was always taught my ABC’s, 123’s and colors. I was an eager student and when it was time to go to school, I was excited and motivated. As I moved on in my educational career, I didn’t keep with the same attitude I started with when I was younger. I feel now, I’ve regained my passion to be a student with the maturity I’ve gained over just this past year. I feel that I will always be a student because I will never cease to learn. I’ve been successful and unsuccessful in my efforts in my formal education. With each new endeavor I take, I learn something new about myself and what I can handle. One of the biggest things I’ve accomplished was the completion of high school. For me, my high school years were some of my darkest. I was in regular day school or the first two years and because of personal issues spent the last two years on home instruction. Being able to graduate with a high school diploma in the allotted 4 year time span meant so much to me and still does. Another successful experience I’ve had before coming to MCC was obtaining my Medical Assistant Certification. I worked in the field for some time and decisions I made in my life, lead me to give away what I had worked so hard for. The most recent and successful thing I’ve done thus far is coming to MCC. Before enrolling here, I was in a very lost and dark place in my life. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get out. I was given an opportunity at a second chance and I am going to take full advantage of it this time around. I’ve encountered many challenges along the way; some of them I’ve even let stunt me in my growth as a person in society. When I was in grammar school, I lost my father suddenly, as I entered high school I fell into the wrong crowd of friends and my life took a turn down the wrong path for a while and I have a diagnosed mental illness that makes everyday life difficult sometimes. I’ve learned that I need to be open and honest with my life in order to get better. How I’ve learned cope with theses everyday challenges it to just face every day and know my limits. I attend self-help groups that have changed my life and afforded me with nineteen months clean and showed me there is a better way to live. I decided to enroll in Middlesex County College because I need a change of pace. Before coming to MCC, I was stagnant; I wasn’t sure I’d ever move from the dreary place I found myself in. When the Fall 2012 semester was about to close, I had a choice, was I going to participate in life or was another year going to pass me by? I made a decision to put all my fears aside and enroll. Honestly, the first few weeks of that fall semester were great. I felt on top of the world, things were coming so easy. Then reality started to set in. I saw that I was in remedial classes and my friends were in more advanced courses some even in universities. Life started to show up and responsibilities were beginning to knock on my door and tests were on days I wanted to have for myself. I felt trapped and on some days, I really wanted to give up. However, I kept pushing forward because I know that I came this far and wasn’t going to give up over a little pressure. Plus, I had so much support from the people that love me I was doing this more for just selfish reasons this time. I’m not sure how my professors this semester would describe me being we’ve only known each other a short period of time. Going on the opinion of last semester’s professors, I feel they would describe me as outgoing and responsible. I remain accountable for the things I do and the things I don’t do. I’m on time for classes and not shy about asking for help or staying after class to voice a concern. That is something I’ve learned in my short time as a college student and it’s taught me well. An academic goal of mine in the short term has been in the short term to complete my remedial classes and some of my basic psychology classes. In the long term I would then like to matriculate to Rutgers University to complete my Bachelor’s degree. It has always been a dream of mine to graduate from the University my mother did. Although I don’t want to follow in the medical field the same way my mother did, I still want to obtain my doctorate as she did. I feel it is in my blood to help people, just in different ways. I plan to accomplish this goal by staying focused on my plan and using my time wisely. I need to start to identify my weaknesses and work on them more thoroughly. I need to obtain better study skills begin to prepare to the weeks ahead instead of the just the week or the day. Also, I need to get out of the mindset that things will get done for me or over time just go away; in life, things don’t happen like that. In conclusion, I plan to take my new lease on life and my academic career very seriously. I have a pretty good understanding what is ahead of me of me given I keep doing the next right thing. On the other hand I know what is waiting for me if I slip and go back to the life I was leading before I made the decision to change and start this new way of life. The good thing about today is today I am free and have a choice of what I want to do. I no longer have to be dictated to on what I have to get done, it’s my life and from this point on I will decide how I will live each day.