My College Experience
- Laura Warburton
- Jan 3
- 7 min read
It’s 2011 and I have finally finished high school! Like most of my friend group, college was a no-brainer, and I had been preparing for years to get here. Advanced Placement (AP) classes, AP exams, concurrent courses to get early, FREE college credits (hell yeah), studying, THEA exams, preSATs, more studying, and SATs. Junior and senior years of high school were especially tough, and while I enjoy school and being a student, my grades weren’t always amazing…but I managed a
decent GPA and made it through.
So, graduation. I almost didn’t walk the stage at my high school commencement because I was just so done with everything. I was unprepared for senior photos and skipped the panoramic photo we took as a class altogether. I was emotionally and mentally overwhelmed and was just ready to leave. I did end up walking the stage and got my diploma, but at this point I didn’t even really care. On some level I knew that having my diploma would allow me access to jobs and yada yada, but it didn’t really feel special.
Like many of my classmates, I decided to stay at home and attend Tyler Junior College (TJC) so I could continue to explore what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and save money. People called TJC “grade 13” because of how easy the transition can be between high school and junior college. In hindsight, I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing.
Tyler Junior College (left with a 2.69 cumulative GPA)
I started TJC in the fall of 2011, wasting no time and getting right back to school after summer break. While in high school I was taking double-blocked education classes to become a teacher. This was still the plan (do you feel the foreshadowing?), so I majored in Elementary Education and began classes at my local junior college. I did end up changing my major while here from Education to Environmental Science.
I ordered my transcripts for this blog post (and just to have) and I am going to be REAL about my struggles and my grades. I am usually a good student...but I had some struggles with more work + more freedom.
Fall 2011 (Education Major, 2.61 GPA)
Biology – Non Science Majors I
Intro to the Teaching Profession
Federal Government
College Algebra (not my forte already, but my professor was AWFUL)
Spring 2012 (Education Major, 2.23 GPA)
Intro to Special Populations (withdrew, IDR why)
Forms of Literature – Honors
Earth Sciences I
Texas Government
College Algebra (passed this time!)
Summer II 2012 (4.0 GPA)
Intro to Speech Communication
Fall 2012 (Environmental Science Major, 2.14 GPA)
Art History I
General Botany
General Chemistry I
Lifespan Growth & Development
Spring 2013 (4.0 GPA)
Business Computer Applications (withdrew)
Environmental Biology
Plane Trigonometry (withdrew, this class was AWFUL)
Summer I 2013 (3.0 GPA)
Physical Geology
Summer II 2013 (this semester was an all-around failure)
Principles of Microeconomics
Elementary Statistical Methods
Stephen F. Austin
I attended TJC for the normal two years and transferred in the fall of 2013. I didn’t get a degree and instead ended up changing my major to Environmental Science and transferring to Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. I was SO excited to finally go to a four-year university, and SFA was known for its Environmental Science and Forestry programs. I lived on campus for my time there. I had a dorm room, a roommate, a meal plan at the dining hall, ACTUAL college courses with professors with doctorates in their fields. I was solely responsible for myself in a way I hadn’t really experienced before, meaning I was all alone in a completely new situation and away from home. Enter: the beginning of my depression.
I went home. Every. Single. Weekend. It wasn’t practical, it wasn’t responsible. But I couldn’t make myself stay alone in Nac. I didn’t have a great relationship with either of my two roommates over the few semesters I was there, especially not the first one, and I couldn’t do it. After a semester in the ENV SCI program I realized how ill-equipped I was for the coursework. The prerequisite courses at TJC were like finger painting whereas the next level courses at SFA were like…I dunno, oil painting? In front of judges? It was awful. I was confused in class, I felt so stupid for not being on the same level as my peers. It wasn’t my fault at all, but there was nothing I could do to catch up. I went to Supplemental Instruction (SI) and had a classmate tutor me before quizzes. But it felt like pushing a boulder uphill. I had missed entire sixteen-week courses that my classmates had that I didn’t. SO. I changed my major BACK to Education and studied something I felt much more comfortable with, with the plan to become an elementary school teacher when I graduated.
Now it’s spring of 2014 and the loneliness really got to me. I started having frequent nightmares (something my brain blesses me with when I am overly stressed, isn’t that nice?) and a lot of trouble focusing on schoolwork. I stopped eating in the dining hall and took my meals to go and ate alone in my dorm room. I stopped doing my homework and got really behind…and then my grades plummeted. I couldn’t even make myself care, I was just so done. I was put on academic probation (and then suspension) because of my GPA and the fact that I was on financial aid. I told myself I was going to take a break and come back when I could get my shit together.
Five Years Later...
It is now 2019 and I have a husband, a two-year-old son, and I am itching to get back to school. I remember really thinking about what courses I enjoyed the most and what my future might look like if I pursued what I loved. I had to kick myself a bit, but I finally decided it was English. I have always loved to read and writing has always been fun, even as a school assignment. So I went back to TJC to get an associate's degree. It was a concrete, tangible goal that I could accomplish and accomplish quickly. I was in a much better headspace mentally and really enjoyed my last few classes at Tyler Junior College.
Spring 2019 – 4.00 GPA, President’s List
Learning Framework
Creative Writing I
World Literature II
Intro to the Humanities I
Summer II 2019 - 4.0
Technical & Business Writing
After finishing up my coursework and receiving my Associate's degree in English, I went
straight to The University of Texas at Tyler. I had my daughter in the summer of 2020 and stayed home the next semester to care for her while she was so little. I had such a great time with all my English courses at UT Tyler. My professors were so passionate about freedom of thought, opinion, and expression and you could see it in each and every class. If I could go back in time and take these classes again, I would. I can't speak for any other college, but the professors in the College of Arts & Science are amazing.
Fall 2019
Writing Textual Analysis
Reading And Writing About Data
Accelerated Spanish I
Spring 2020
Word & Digital Technology
Public Writing & Technology
Accelerated Spanish II
Spring 2021
Renaissance Poetry & Prose
Genre Studies in American Literature - 19th Century American Short Stories
Media Design & Production
Summer 2021
Studies in World Literature
Fall 2021
Creative Writing I
Grammar & Professional Editing
American 20th-Century Literature - African-American Literature
Texts, Tech, & Humanities
Spring 2022
Creative Writing II
Genre Studies in American Literature - Poetry & Prosody
Senior Seminar - Rhetorical Study
Independent Study - Pauline Hopkins (didn't end up working out, long story)
The plan from HERE was to transfer to The University of Texas at Austin and get a Master's degree in Science in Information Studies (linked, in case you wanted to read what the heck this was, because I sure didn't know). I wanted to be a librarian and maybe stay on at UTA. My husband and I had talked about living in the Austin area for years and we decided to finally do it. The plan was mostly solid, but I think we really underestimated the cost of living in ATX. I think I also was so unsure about getting a job that I didn't even want to try graduate school anymore. I told myself I would figure it out, aaaand that never really ended up happening.
My little family and I moved to the Austin Area (Round Rock) in the fall of 2022 and lived there in a rental home until spring of 2025. We moved back into my childhood home in Tyler and I was ready to finally take THE LAST CLASS I NEEDED to get my bachelor's degree. I chose Digital Storytelling with Literature and it was so much fun to get back in the classroom. Finished up the course, PLUS a 37 page senior portfolio, and I was ready for commencement!
All of this is to say: I didn't take what was the "normal" route for a lot of my classmates. I was raised with the automatic expectation that I would attend college and I had a great time, for the most part. I have struggled a lot with my self-worth but man, I worked my ASS off for this degree and I am proud of myself! What's next? I don't know. But I feel bolstered in the fact that I will soon have this tangible thing (if they will mail my diploma already!) to show for my hard work.
Comments