Ignoring prerequisites poses academic obstacles

Dear Kate, I’ve been going to school for some time now but still can’t figure out what to major in. Can you help?”

-Puzzled Pupil

Dear Puzzled, You are not alone. The search for an enriching career is an issue that many people struggle with.

It seems unfair that a person fresh out of high school, at the age of 18, is expected to know what they want to do with their entire life. It’s a lot of pressure and no one should be expected to be able to come out of high school knowing exactly what their major should be.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that it’s your life. Do not go down a specific career path because your parents or anyone else want you to. Each person is different, with different talents and passions, and those are what should be helping you determine what you will be doing with your life.

Sometimes it can be confusing because of the numerous choices awaiting. It’s OK if you haven’t figured it out yet. Sometimes people are lucky and figure it out early on, but so many others don’t know until they’ve tried a few different options.

Pierce College offers helpful services for students seeking answers. The Career Center at Pierce has tools to help students figure out a good career match including a Career Exploration Research Sheet, which helps assess skills and interests according to the Career Center website. This could be a good start to get you thinking about where your talents and skills would best fit, and in what career you might thrive.

Something else to consider is to simply start taking classes you have never thought about before. Opening yourself up to new hori-

Pierce College offers more than 80 degrees and certificate programs, so you are at the right place to explore your options. Look at the course catalog and do some research into each program. Choose five that seem interesting to you, and start exploring them one by one. Sign up for classes you would have never considered and keep an open mind.

If you take classes and find out that you are not interested in a certain program, that’s a step in the right direction. Use the process of elimination to your advantage. You may not know yet what you want to do, but at least you’re starting to get a grasp on what you don’t want, which will help you narrow it down.

Two beautiful things about community college are the low cost, and the fact that you don’t have to get in and out in a specific amount of time. If you look around, you will find students of all ages. Many are back in school after years in a career they didn’t love to find something better and make themselves more marketable for a job they can be excited about.

So don’t put a time restraint on yourself. Work wherever you need to for now to pay the bills while you figure out what career would be best for you.

When you find classes that excite you and hold your interest, follow through and take more of those classes. Do a little research by talking to the teachers and see what information they have for you about jobs in their field. Being open to advice from professionals can be a key to success.

Whether you are 18, 81, or anywhere in between, it’s never too late to pursue your passions, whether they are old or new, and find out how you can use them to fund your life.

Do you have a question for Kate? Don’t shy away, ask Kate anything by sending an email to AskKateAnything@gmail.com. If you have a question of a sensitive nature, your identity will be kept a secret.

Students who are unprepared for advanced courses may in fact be handicapping their grade point average if they can’t cut it. Is it better to have more prerequisites for a class or should we treat students as adults and let them make their way through a class, without the fear of dropping or failure? Even those who meet the challenge add to their workload, and possibly their stress levels.

Pierce has an abundance of classes that any student can register for, but the qualifications for taking certain classes aren’t always in the forefront of a student’s mind. With the pressures of adding classes that fill up quickly in an overpopulated system, students are often left adding classes that they’re not quite ready for. Even though the schedule offers suggestions for classes students should take before enrolling in certain courses, in the heat of the moment this advice is often overlooked.

The college does offer assessment testing for the major academic subjects required to transfer so that a student can gauge where their aptitude for a subject lies. From that testing, it’s the student’s choice to select a class they can handle and hopefully pass. Some classes even require students to go through an assessment process before they are allowed to register for the class.

While some students may benefit from being challenged and taking a class above their specified level, many are left in a class that is beyond their compre- hension and ultimately set themselves up for failure.

Not only does the student suffer from trying to grasp a subject they’re not prepared to handle, the other students in the classroom are left with less instruction while the teacher focuses more on the less-equipped student. Students owe it to themselves to be ready for the classes they take.

Students who plan ahead for the classes they intend to take have an advantage on those who are reckless with their schedules. It’s not easy to succeed without making a conscious effort to review the material which will be covered in classes with complicated subject matter. Rather than add to the necessary workload, it might prove to be easier to take a few preparatory classes, and save the anguish of getting a bad grade regardless of the amount of time and effort invested in studying.

It’s the responsibility of the college to provide classes for students to excel and transfer to a four-year university and it shouldn’t be any more stressful for students trying to figure out which classes they’re allowed to take. Regulations which help to put people in classes which meet their relative aptitudes will benefit the student body and teachers who will have less trouble relaying complex concepts to pupils.

Taking preparatory courses before tackling tough classes might be the most realistic way to achieve one’s academic dreams. The value of being prepared, after all, speaks for itself.

Recruiters operating outside policy donʼt belong on campus

Being stopped while running late to class can be a less-than-ideal situation for a student as a stranger eagerly insists on a bit of time and some personal information.

Students surround the campus throughout the week at Pierce College, giving recruiters the opportunity to reach out to target markets from the confines of the freedom of speech area near the mall marquee.

Some recruiters can also be found on campus approaching students away from the freedom of speech area and some students may come to question why they are roaming around campus.

Recruiters of any kind are actually not allowed to walk around campus. When they do, students or guests are encouraged to report those incidents to the Sheriff’s Department, in the parking lot by the Winnetka entrance to Pierce College.

Although recruiters may be unaware of the regulations for soliciting to students, policy states they are required to fill out a simple form found at the Student Services office in the Administration Building located at the third floor Room 4200. This grants recruiters instant access to recruit students walking across the mall as long as they stay in the free speech area, designated in front of the new Library/Learning Crossroads Building.

The administrative assistant to the vice president of Student Services Judie Price, shared how effortless it is to gain entry on campus by filling out a form. Recruiter’s access to the free speech area on campus is only valid from the hours of 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and they are prohibited from distributing material that disrupts the orderly operation on campus.

Recruiters do not belong outside the designated area. They need to know if they do not adhere to campus policy they will be asked to leave the campus and will be reported to the Sheriff’s Department. Cases of criminal mischief have already occurred on campus as identity theft is a rising concern among college students whose personal information may be sought after by both recruiters and would-be thieves. Sensitive personal details are something that all students should avoid giving to on-campus solicitors, particularly money or credit card information. The campus will not be held responsible for a reimbursement or an unexpected loss.

Overall, students should become more involved in communicating to the Sheriff’s Department if they come across recruiters outside the free speech zone.

Students who are attending Pierce should not feel any discomfort leaving a class or walking through a campus because of someone soliciting them at any given time without their consent.