Getting to College Quickly

What motivated you to get your GED? I have always been on the more advanced side as far as students go. Throughout elementary school I was placed in accelerated programs. Instead of doing sixth grade, my parents chose to pull me out and opt for homeschooling, placing me a year ahead. Now I am in a mixed state of my junior and senior years of high school and am being held back by a simple lack of credits. I am uninterested in high school. I’m ready to move on with my life. It is because of this that I have decided to obtain my GED certiciate and move on to college in the fall a full two years earlier than originally planned. Can you go to college with a ged? Yes. Through the research I’ve done, and the number of testimonies I’ve heard, I feel like this is a good option.

How have your friends and family helped you? My mother has supported me the most of anyone.

What problems have you faced? The first problem I have faced is my father’s opposition. He saw it as taking the easy way out and being a failure. He believed that I would be constantly competing for jobs. It was difficult to get him to understand that the face of education is changing and that many people are using the GED diploma to get an early start. As far as academics are concerned, math is my weakness. However, I am confident that with enough studying, I will do well (I am not pursuing any mathematics or science in college).

What do you hope to gain from getting your GED? I am hoping that with the GED certificate, I will be able to go farther and sooner in college than I would have. I want to obtain a degree in languages or photography (my two passions), travel the world, and potentially work as an interpreter or photographer. I have no plans to spend my life sitting behind a desk in a cubicle farm. My only apprehension is that the stigma of the GED diploma being the “quitter’s diploma” will hinder me. However, I will remain hopeful, without stretching into naivety.