Everyday Hero

The struggle that I went through was not granted any financial aid to go to UC Irvine. I was not given a single cent so that I would be able to go back as a sophomore. Tuition costs at a four year university are fairly expensive compared to community college. In total I was looking at twenty-four thousand dollars which was usually subsidized by the government but now I had to pay to attend. I was barely notified by the financial aid office in the middle of September when school started beginning of October. At first the problem was ambiguous, no one knew what had gone wrong. But later the office was informed that a problem with my parents’ tax return forms prevented me from receiving financial aid. I knew it was inadvertent from my parents’ side. They wanted me to receive aid since they couldn't afford to pay my tuition. I had two options, either take out twenty thousand dollars’ worth of loans or go to a community college and return next school year. I didn't want to take out so many loans for only one year. If I did, I would've been close to fifty thousand dollars in debt by the time I graduated. I chose to attend community college instead but it was already too late to sign up. It was the end of September when community college had started in August. I had to wait until spring semester which was months away. I had to miss a semester of school while others were ahead of their education. It was a heartbreak to see others go back and enjoy the college experience while I was waiting for my chance again. At the moment I knew I didn't want to fritter my time at home while I waited until next semester so I got a job at my high school as a tutor. It has given me the opportunity to help students and influence them to do well so they could attend a four year university. Now that I am attending El Camino, it has become a new experience for me. I see it as a positive experience rather than a negative one. I hope that I’ll be able to return to UCI this upcoming fall but as of now, I try to make my experience at El Camino worthwhile.