The library on Linden Ave changed my mind about going back

I dropped out of community college in Grand Rapids back in 2019 to pressure wash driveways. Last month I walked into the public library on Linden Ave to use the bathroom and noticed a whole section of trade school catalogs and free GED prep classes. There were also computers with job training videos playing. I sat there for an hour just browsing what a two year degree in business management could do for my small washing company. That visit made me realize I don't need a four year university, just some night classes to learn bookkeeping and bidding. I signed up for one online course starting next month. Has anyone else gone back for a local certificate instead of a full degree? What changed your mind after you dropped out?

2 comments

2 Comments

evangarcia16h ago

Oh man, this hits close to home. I dropped out of a state school back in 2015 and spent two years feeling like a failure before I finally looked into a welding cert at a local tech college. That one night class changed everything for me, not because I became a master welder overnight, but because it proved to myself I could still learn and finish something. The teachers there actually cared if I showed up, which was way different from the big lecture halls where I felt invisible. I took it one class at a time while working my day job, and honestly the practical skills mattered more than any diploma ever would have. It took me three years to get my cert, but nobody cares about the timeline now, they just see the work I do. Good on you for walking into that library, sometimes the best doors open when you're just trying to find a bathroom.

aaronf4016h ago

Wait, did your welding cert program make you lay beads over letter grades too? Cause I tried this 3D printing thing at a community center once and the teacher kept calling me "the guy who makes the weird melting lamp." I mean, that's nothing like welding, I know, but it got me thinking about how we all find our thing in weird places. @evangarcia, your story about the bathroom door actually reminded me of when I walked into the wrong classroom at my kid's open house and ended up sitting through an entire adult literacy session. I sat there for 45 minutes before I realized, but by then I was already learning how to help my nephew sound out words, which is way more useful than the tour I missed. Maybe it's just me, but I think those random doors we stumble through sometimes count for more than the ones we plan to walk in.