5 Colleges - One Big Life Lesson by Jonathan

5 Colleges - One Big Life Lesson by Jonathan - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

Education, as defined by Merriam-Webster is the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college, or university. I have been to five colleges/universities over the span of four years. Life has made my college career a little different than your “typical four year route”. Each college taught me a little bit more about myself, it matured me through different struggles, and ultimately it showed me who I am meant to be. Let me walk you through my college path, the path that made me who I am today.

SUNY Oneonta was a college I desperately wanted to get into during my senior year of high school. This was 2010, I was only 18 and I thought I knew who I was. I was excited to pursue teaching, to run track, and make new friends. Unfortunately life had other ideas, personal issues arose and I withdrew. I might have lost a battle, but not the war. One year passed, I mentally recovered and I felt it was the right time to give college another go. Sometimes life beats you down, but if you are helped back onto your feet you need to keep going. I learned how to accept help from people, it was something really difficult for me to admit but I needed it.

My second attempt at pursing a college education was at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, New York. There I continued my studies to become a secondary education history teacher. I made another group of friends and ran track & field. I learned to be careful of who you should call a friend, sometimes things happen and people backstab you. But I learned not to hit back, for karma has a funny way of working. Sometimes you should hit back but there is a time and a place to do things. This was 2012, I was 20 years old and that spring I was accepted to study abroad in Oxford, England for a summer semester. Little did I know but this would be a life changing event for me.

Oxford, England is one of the most beautiful and amazing cities I have ever been to. The chance to study at one of the best universities in the world is something I will never forget. This allowed me to be exposed to a completely different culture and way of thinking. I learned to be more understanding, to appreciate other’s viewpoints, and to be open to ideas that challenged mine. I had the chance to go to London a few times and Paris for a weekend to visit a dear childhood friend of mine. This experience showed me that fashion was something that I should pursue as a full time career. I went from secondary education to a fashion merchandising major just over a course of a summer.

I came back that fall, withdrew out of MSMC and applied for LIM College in Manhattan. By now my parents were divorced and my mom moved back to the Bronx, which would allow me to commute into the city. To come from the suburbs and be exposed to New York City really caused me to grow as a person. LIM is in the middle of mId town and it taught be to be independent from my parents. Eventually I did switch and transfer into FIT, which is where I study now. Education and the life experiences that were forced upon me, allowed me to work for amazing companies such as Topshop, Banana Republic, and currently Burberry.

College showed me how to be financial independent, I pay for school myself and I work to make sure I can pursue a better education. It showed me the career path I am meant to pursue, which is in marketing in a fashion house. Education taught me how to be accepting of others, how to communicate with adults in a real world work place, and how to time manage. It matured me in ways that make me just a little different from your normal 22 year old in New York City. I learned to appreciate everything I have earned and fought for. To never give up, and to make sure education at a college level is completed so I can be something more in the world. To make an impact on an industry where stars who shine leave a legacy.