When I arrived at Harper College in the fall of 2002, I had no idea what I wanted
to do with my life. Getting to college was a challenge on its own, because I was a
special education student in high school. My former teachers didn’t think I’d make
it through high school, let alone college.
Despite what they thought, I took a chance and enrolled at Harper College. It was
the best decision I could’ve made. There are numerous tutors on campus, so I was able
to get plenty of help in math and Spanish. I was living in that math lab.
One of the classes that I took was a career building class, which helped me carve
out a career path. My love for meeting new people, writing and my curiosity landed
me in an intro to journalism class. Writing always came natural to me, so I decided
to give it shot. The class taught me the basics about journalism, including how to
write stories, conduct interviews and how to edit stories.
I also enrolled in a mass media class, and the big assignment was to interview someone
working in the media world. Gasp! I was a big fan of this radio DJ in Chicago, so
I paid her a visit. Those classes, coupled with that interview, let me know that journalism
was the field for me. From Harper, I was able to make a smooth transition to Northern
Illinois University, where I received by bachelor’s degree in journalism.
With the help of the classes and tutors at Harper College, I went from special education
student, to a Deputy Editor at Northwest Quarterly Magazine in Rockford. I’m doing
what a lot of people didn’t think was possible. I recently had one high school teacher
admit that she didn’t have faith in me and she has since apologized.
Harper College definitely gave me the jump-start I needed to get my career off the
ground. For that, I’ll be forever thankful.
