Join us on the 'road to college'

By: AGNES DIGGS - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 21, 2004 9:46 PM PDT ∞

Bet you folks never expected to see me out front. We're meeting here this week instead of in the Life section because I need your help. It's back to school time, and my newspaper is launching a special project designed to guide young people who hope to, want to, plan to, need to get into college or some other kind of post-high school training.

I was thinking there might be a way you can participate.

For some of us, certain words were like a mantra in our youth.

Again and again, parents and teachers told us, "You're going to college."

That was often followed by some reference to "having a better life than I did."

Problem was, many parents had no idea exactly what it took to bring that hope to fruition.

And many parents worked so hard at so many jobs they had no time to plan for a solid future as they struggled daily to secure the present.

Some of us were slated to be the first in the family to attend college. Some of us had to overcome family barriers, or language barriers or the barrier of ignorance of how to reach our goals.

Most of what I learned about college was gleaned from a popular 1960s television program called G. E. College Bowl. Students from premier colleges faced off against one another in academic competition for, I believe, scholarship money. I watched the program religiously, priding myself on knowing answers to the questions. Academic preparation wasn't the problem for me. The problem was, I arrived at my senior year with no practical knowledge of what should come next.

I did a mental inventory of the schools that had impressed me in the broadcast competition and applied to a couple of them. I knew for sure I wanted to be a writer, but I had no real concept of what it would take to get me from the small-time potboilers I wrote in high school to the point of being able to make a living at the craft. I had solid career role models, such as columnist Ellen Goodman, who attended the same high school I did.

My mother had patterned her hopes for us after the example of the families for which she cleaned house, washed windows and occasionally shoveled snow, working six days a week to receive the paltry compensation of $10 per day and table scraps. Unfortunately, she could tell the what, but not the how-to of the good life from the outside looking in.

It took me years to get my first degree, attending school catch-as-catch-can while working full-time. I recently shared those personal memories with my editors to illustrate my belief that some things don't change with time. That there are kids out there like me, parents like my mom, who want college more than anything but are clueless as to how to begin.

The result of our discussion was the college road map that the North County Times is offering today as a tool for those who are looking for a starting point. It's not the answer to every question; it's a one-size-fits-all look at some of the steps necessary to reach the goal.

In the coming months, we will run additional hints, tips, stories and reminders.

Throughout the school year, we'll continue to have useful information at our Web site, so feel free to visit http://www.nctimes.com/special_reports/road.

It is our fervent wish that students know what options are available and have the best possible chance at the kind of life a solid education can lead to.

If you are reading this, take a look at the road map in the Life section today. Pull the section out and share it with family members, friends, neighbors, school counselors. If it takes a village to raise a child, welcome to the tribe of Student Boosters. If our young people don't reach higher ground, let's not let it be because we weren't trying to give them a leg up.

And if you're wondering what to say to them when you share the information, tell them to start as early as possible, start over again if they falter, but never give up on themselves or the future.

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.