To be clear from the outset, this blog was triggered by my friends Dr. Rosemary Woullard and Dr. Sharon Gerald who have put their hearts and lives into community colleges, not Dr. Jill Biden, though she seems to have done the same. My queue recently has had many references to community colleges in various feeds. Sean Dietrich, who writes adult books, and Laurie Halse Anderson, a multi-award-winning author for young adults, have been passionate about their experiences in community colleges in their speaking and writing.
Mississippi seldom gets credit for being in the lead, but our community college system has long been an example. I’ll give credit to my own. The year I graduated from high school, Mississippi recruited heavily for what were then called junior colleges. I had grown up in a family with conversations that included the phrase “when you go to college” with little consciousness that “how” should be included with the “when.” Mama’s penny-pinching kept us in food and clothes, but just barely. Let’s just say I was starting out on a college career with a $100 dollar scholarship from First State Bank in Holly Springs, Mississippi ($972.80 in today’s money).
Recruiters made the rounds that summer touting the opportunity for the five counties surrounding Itawamba Junior College. School buses would run daily just like public schools so I could live at home. Daddy assured me he could handle my lunch money. First State Bank deposited that big scholarship in my account. I am my mother’s daughter so I registered as early as possible and hit the bookstore with my class list and told them I wanted the oldest (i. e. cheapest) textbooks available. (Two literature texts that I planned to keep made the rounds for three younger sisters before returning to my bookshelf.) At the end of my freshman year, I had paid for my fees and books and had $11 (today’s $107.01) remaining to start my sophomore year. An added bonus, not furnished by Itawamba Junior College, was that a young man in a red and white Buick took his afternoon work break just as the bus returned me home.
The boy with the red and white Buick.
Two years later, I got my diploma one Sunday and my wedding ring the next from the boy with the Buick. I waited two years for my friend who was married with two children and a job to finish her turn at IJC so we could commute together to Ole Miss and finish our degrees.
I am standing with my regular car-pooling partner sitting in front on the bench. During summer school, we sometimes had other riders.
What did the community college experience have for me? (1) I was sixteen years old when I entered which made the school a nice transition for someone with the academic ability but needing time to gain a bit of emotional maturity. (2) Every class was taught by a qualified academic but was small enough that if I ran into my professors crossing the campus, they called my name when they spoke. (3) Every credit transferred to Ole Miss for my continuing education. (4) A fine English professor from IJC turned out to be a visiting professor for one of my summer school classes at Ole Miss. She still knew my name. What did I lose by choosing IJC as my first college experience? I can’t think of a thing.
Mississippi still sets an example for its community colleges with the same advantages along with numerous two-year programs for those who do not need four years to train for their professions. I now have credits from five four-year institutions and would tell you in a heartbeat that my beginning community college ranks right up there with all of them. Best $100 I ever spent!