College Essays

Dropping Out

Approximately half of first year community college students do not even make it to the second year. This baffles administrators. The question is they want to answer is, why do so many first year student drop out? The answer is simple; many students don't return to school for a second year because of personal reasons such as family commitments, money problems, stress, and no inspiration.

One personal reason why many students don't return to college is because of family commitments. Going to school and working can take away from family time. Public Agenda, a website that is part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, says that 41 % of students said they quit school because of not having enough time for family. 72% of the students found it would be hard to go back because of family commitments ("Report 1: With Their Lives Ahead of Them"). A majority of college students are adults, so some of these students are already married and/or even have children, or they may have personal obligations to other family members. Even though these students may want to continue their education in their eyes family comes first.

Another reason some students drop out is because a lot of students cannot personally afford to go to college. Many community college students don't rely on their parents for help and try to rely solely on their own money and scholarships. Sometimes scholarships don't cover everything, so it makes it difficult for the students to attend college and pay their living expenses. According to Public Agenda, 52% of students that left said that paying for school affected them financially ("Report 1: With Their Lives Ahead of Them"). It is already widely known that a lot of people can't even fathom attending college because of the amount money needed to do so. Those who try to go to a college or university to earn a degree have to find ways to pay thousands of dollars just to attend. Most students also hear about how people who attended college years ago are still paying of their students debts. Even though the student may want to continue their education this scares students that they would always be financially in debt because of their student loans. Most student can't personally easily pay for college and this is why they don't go on for the second year.

Yet, another personal reason that results in students dropping out is the amount of stress developed from college. Students have to worry about college, work, money, their time management, and family commitments. Juggling so many worrying things is extremely stressful. Stress can mentally affect people by causing anxiety, restlessness, depression, irritability and the lack of motivation. Symptoms of stress aren't only mental but also physical. People affected from stress can have headaches, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, change in sex drive, upset stomach and insomnia (Mayo Clinic Staff). According to Public Agenda, 63 % of students who dropped out said that it was too stressful to work and do college at the same time ("Report 1: With Their Lives Ahead of Them"). A large amount of stress can cause students to think that they aren't even going to do well in school, thus making the students leave school because they can't trust themselves and don't want to deal with the excess stress.

Some students can't personally find any inspiration to continue on with their education, which is one more reason they leave school. Students are told from a young age that they have to go to college. The multiple reasons why they are told to go is because you can earn more money, you'll further your education and you'll be successful. But some of these students are just going to school because they're told to. These students are finally in college but don't even know why. They just know they are supposed to be there. They find themselves lost and stuck in rut and find that they are not inspired by anything the college offers. These students leave because they find there isn't any use in what they are learning and using up money they felt shouldn't be. The lack of motivation a person has about college is another reason why students drop out.

Even though each student has his or her own personal problems it doesn't change the fact it's the main reason for many students are staying only for one year of college. Students have so much outside of college affecting them. They have family commitments, money problems, stress and no inspiration keeping them from staying in college. There are greater problems with losing students don't realize how dropping out can affect their life and even the lives of others. If these students had gone through with college they could have impacted the community. If the students had stayed then they could have became business owners or had done many other things in the community.

Works Cited

Mayo Clinic Staff. "Stress Symptoms: Effects on Your Body and Behavior." Mayo Clinic. Mayo

Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 19 July 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.

"Report 1: With Their Lives Ahead of Them." Public Agenda. Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation, nd. Web. 3 Oct. 2014

Authors Note:

 This one was a  final essay and I am proud to say that it was used as a good example for the next year. This was a year ago I don't remember the exact score I got, but it was either an A or a B+. Like no joke  I was really happy when my teacher had asked if she can use this for an example it made me really happy. :D