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I Owe It All To Community College Summary

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The article, “I Owe It All to Community College,” by Tom Hanks, highlights the impact of an accessible community college on his life, emphasizing its role in providing opportunities and aiding personal and professional growth. As a struggling academic student with low expectations for college, he unexpectedly found success and inspiration through the diverse and supportive environment at Chabot. This college provided a foundation for his career in theater and film production, resulting in his immense gratitude for the invaluable opportunities offered by a community college. Likewise, in “The Chance And The Choice That Changed My Life: The Power of a College Promise,” Chike Aguh shares his parents’ humble beginnings and their journey to achieving …show more content…

Throughout the articles, the authors reflect on their college experience. Hanks writes, “By some fluke of the punch-card computer era, I made Chabot’s dean’s list” by taking classes he found enjoyable, challenging, and divergent (Hanks 2). The author mentions a range of classes to illustrate the unpredictability of academic success, to prove the significance of personal preferences in shaping educational outcomes. Furthermore, Aguh asks a rhetorical question on how his parents achieved the American Dream, to which he responded, “It was my parents’ ability to come to the United States of America and study in its amazing public universities debt-free—my dad at the University of Texas-Austin and my mother at Rutgers—that changed their lives” (Aguh 1). Here, he contradicts common beliefs about low-income families, proving that affordable education promotes socioeconomic advancement and success. Both writers had difficult beginnings, yet managed to strive and share their influential stories. Doing so may inspire underrepresented individuals who doubt their future because of social …show more content…

With his parents’ experience, he understands that education is a universal tool used to break down background barriers and realize goals to contribute to brighter futures. Together, they highlight how colleges not only shape individual lives but also contribute to social mobility and progress. In addition, they suggest that everyone has the life-changing opportunity of higher education, but it is up to the student to take the initiative. Ultimately, the authors appreciate these inclusive institutions for allowing them the opportunity to achieve their goals. Furthermore, Hanks and Aguh have different approaches to addressing financial barriers to higher education, yet both emphasize the urgent need for affordable college. Hanks recalled a proposal for free community college for most students, where he “hopes the idea sticks, because more veterans, from Iraq and Afghanistan this time, as well as another generation of mothers, single parents, and workers who have been out of the job market, need lower obstacles between now and the next chapter of their lives” (Hanks

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She attended two of them and has a major in biology from the Southern Maine Community College, which makes it easier for her to connect with her audience because she knows what the experience is like. She understands that some people may rule out going to college because of the price, so it’s important for her to inform them that there are cheaper alternatives with community colleges. “ ‘College is the key,’ a young African American student writes for the umpteenth torturous revision of his college essay, ‘as well as hope.’ Oh, I wanted desperately to say, please tell him about community college. Please tell him that help can begin with just one placement test,” she pleads (Addison, 213).

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She attended two of them and has a major in biology from the Southern Maine Community College, which makes it easier for her to connect with her audience because she knows what the experience is like. She understands that some people may rule out going to college because of the price, so it’s important for her to inform them that there are cheaper alternatives with community colleges. “ ‘College is the key,’ a young African American student writes for the umpteenth torturous revision of his college essay, ‘as well as hope.’ Oh, I wanted desperately to say, please tell him about community college. Please tell him that help can begin with just one placement test,” she pleads (Addison, 213).

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“I owe it all to community College” Summary and Response In Tom’s Hanks article “I owe it all to community college”, he tells us a little bit of his own personal life experience and how attending to a community college changed his life. Tom Hanks starts off with addressing to us that he was an underachieving student that had lousy SAT scores. He then mentions that he apply to two well known colleges, but never got accepted it to any of them and then goes off with telling us that the last application he send was to Chabot (a community college) in Hayward, California. Hanks then describes all the courses that Chabot offers and as well all the various programs that they give, he tells us how there are different genders

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