Thursday, March 12, 2015

Update

I just wanted to check in really quick and let you all know that I love and miss you but will be taking an undetermined hiatus from writing this blog while I work on my second book.

I'll explain more soon - just wanted to let you know why I was MIA. Please use the search box to the right freely to find any CC advice you're looking for. I wrote this blog for four years so hopefully most questions you have are already answered. I'm still active on social media so please stay in touch and feel free to ask me questions via Twitter @IsaAdney!

And as research for my next book I'd LOVE to know what your dream is. To let me know just type #MyDreamis2 and then fill in the rest and tag me @IsaAdney at the end if you have room. Thank you!! :)


Thursday, February 19, 2015

How to win scholarships

Winning scholarships don't happen by accident. There are strategies those who win lots of money for college use, and in our latest episode of The SKiNNY we share some of those tips with you! There are no shortcuts, but winning scholarships really IS possible, even if you're already in college or looking for money for graduate school. 

Enjoy and please share! :)

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A job you can get from a community college training program

I'm a big fan of the ways community colleges open doors to higher education to all people - especially when it allows people to transfer with their AA degree to go on to get their bachelor's degree, as well as continue on to graduate school. 

Community colleges also serve another very important purpose - they help train people who are ready to get right into the workforce and do jobs that many of us benefit from every day.

In the newest installment of The SKiNNY, the college success show I host on TCC22, we're taking a look inside some of these community college training programs to help uncover some of the great things going on in community colleges, as well as help potential students see what kinds of job training is available at two-year institutions. Please share with anyone you know whom you think might be interested in a job like this! :)

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The #1 question you need to ask yourself in college

"Any time you feel overwhelmed, there's a good chance that the culprit is a lack of clear priorities." - Darren Hardy in Entrepreneur Roller Coaster
 
Is college your priority?

Before you answer yes, think about it for a moment.

Look at your calendar. Where are you spending most of your time outside of class? 

College, especially community college, requires you to focus most of your time and energy on being successful in that environment, which requires so much more than just going to class and going home. My blog and book are overflowing with these "other" things to help you be successful in and after college, but none of it will do you much good if you haven't decided to give this college experience your all. 

I have yet to meet a single successful community college graduate who didn't give the experience their all
- no matter what very real barriers or constraints they had in their way. They just decided this would be their priority and then they focused all their energy towards that goal.


While it would be nice to just do college on the side, it often doesn't work that way. It requires a lot of you. But the good news is that the people who give their all to their community college experience also tend to be the people who are having the most fun. 

Think about your schedule and your current priorities. Is there something you know you should be doing on campus that you haven't done yet (e.g. meeting a professor, going to the tutoring center, checking out a club, going to the career center)? Is there something you are doing too much of that's getting in the way of you really making college your priority right now?

College costs money and you are a good investment, but only if you actually invest yourself into this experience wholeheartedly. Is this your priority? What dreams will getting this degree help you accomplish? Write out your thoughts and think seriously about a change you can make to ensure college is really a priority. 


Because if a college degree is something you want, then it must be. 

If you find you're having trouble with this, sit down with a career advisor, academic advisor, or trusted professor/mentor ASAP and talk about your current goals and priorities and ask for advice. Sometimes the best thing we can do to re-prioritize is just talk it out and ask for feedback.

You can do this!

"Lack of direction, not lack of time is the problem. We all have 24 hour days." - Zig Ziglar

Monday, January 19, 2015

What is your dream?

Me in DC at the memorial last year
Four years ago, the week before Martin Luther King Jr. day, I started this blog. The second post I ever wrote was about Martin Luther King Jr. and how we all have tremendous power and influence to affect things for good.

With hindsight it seems I was somehow always on my way towards writing my next book about making a dream come true. But my journey has rarely, if ever, felt clear.

What I've learned so far from working on this book, as well as in my own life, is that dreams are fraught with difficulty, confusion, feelings of loneliness and fear - even sometimes darkness.

Dreams may start with a light at the end of the tunnel, but it doesn't always mean that light is bright. Sometimes it's so dim and you wonder if you've stumbled into the wrong tunnel. 

College can feel like that too. 

What is your dream?

When I started this blog four years ago I could have never imagined that community colleges would be such a big part of the national conversation, as they have been and will be tomorrow when the President gives his State of the Union address, proposing free community college.

I hope college is made financially feasible for you, whatever that means, wherever you go, and even if that means you have to invest in it yourself. I'm a fan of anything that can lessen your burdens, but I also think it doesn't change the fact that you are a good investment. Whether the government makes that investment or you do, I think it's a good one and I hope you make it.

Money can feel like the biggest part of the investment, and in many ways it is, but once that part is taken care of, there's a lot more to consider.

Like - What is your dream? A piece of paper or a far off promise of more income and stability is often not enough fuel to power you through the tough stuff that college promises to throw your way.

We can and should begin with big dreams of a good economy and  an employed, productive workforce. But we'll never get there until we consider you. Yes, you, reading this, in this very moment. 

You matter. Your dreams matter. Your dreams will get you to that graduation ceremony. Your dreams can help us all.

Dreams alone, of course, are not enough. MLK Jr. didn't just magically show up one day to give a speech. He and so many worked tirelessly before and after that speech - they took risks, enlisted help, and planned strategically about how to turn their dreams into reality.

Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life in pursuit of his dream. It was not an easy journey.

Now I'm not comparing college to civil rights, but I do think college can have a place in that larger picture, in helping people from all backgrounds reach their dreams of breaking cycles of poverty and getting an education.

Dreams can power people through some of the toughest circumstances. 

What are your dreams? What is the dream that's going to power you through college, help you make it the the priority that it must be if you are going to have any chance of graduating? 

Write it down right now, in your phone, on a piece of paper, on your hand, whatever. Just write it. Write one, write many, just write.

Tomorrow, look at what you wrote again. Reflect, edit, and write a final list. 

Then read it every morning, and decide on at least one thing you're going to do that day to get yourself closer to your dreams. It's the small, seemingly insignificant things done each day that can often build to make the biggest difference.