I will start this review by saying that I did not attend Suffolk County Community College recently. That said, what I will do is try to provide some highpoints as to what I took away from the experience attending SCCC back in the early to mid-1970s.
Back then we still had a lot of returning Viet Nam vets. We also had the protests that took place in 1971, 72 and 73 and we had "the streakers." When I first attended SCCC immediately after graduating from HS in 1971, I did NOT want to be there because all my friends went away to 4 year schools and I resented having to attend "Second Chance Community College." After a year when I only completed 19 credits, I dropped out and my parents told me to get a job. I did in what was then a SEARS CATALOG department and as a waiter. I realized soon enough while working alongside college students with 3 or 4 years of college at SEARS and the restaurant that I had better get my ass back to school if I did not want to do brain-dead boring jobs all my life.
I returned to SCCC in February 1973 with a new vigor and the intention to get better grades and shot for a minimum of 3.5 GPAs each semester. In the Spring of that year, I did just that, and again in the Fall of '73 and Spring of '74. As a result, I was able to obtain a 2 year Army ROTC scholarship to Hofstra University from where I graduated in 1976; only a year behind my original graduation date of 1975.
Like so many recent students who have commented on the food at the Selden campus and the lousy parking situation, it was like that 40 years ago. So nothing's changed. What I do remember however were the instructors and professors who too often only taught at a slightly elevated HS level. Others taught somewhere between that an the first two years of a 4 year college. Despite that, I liked many of the courses I took at SCCC and despite not being an English major (but having taken AP English in HS) eventually left SCCC with 24 credits in English, Creative Writing & Journalism.
I was active in student affairs when I returned to SCCC the second time and eventually became the editor of THE COMPASS, the college paper. As I worked my way through the degree requirements, I found that SCCC actually was a tougher place to get one's A.A. degree than what was required at Hofstra. The prime example being back then that one had to take 12-16 credits of math and science courses and this requirement applied to the A.A. degrees in General Studies, the Humanities, Social Sciences and so on. The Hofstra catalog I was admitted under required only 6-9 credits of math AND/OR science. Because of this and the fact that I was very weak in math, I did not complete those requirements at SCCC and thus, never did graduate. Once I knew I had the ROTC scholarship, I left SCCC after my last semester sans the A.A. but on my way to my B.A.
When I got to Hofstra in the Fall of '74, I realized that in some ways I was NOT prepared for upper division college work because the reading requirements at a 4 year school were so much more demanding. I would spending my entire first semester on campus at Hofstra getting used to that idea. I also realized that had I attended Hofstra or any other 4 year school out of HS that I would have had to work a lot harder initially than I did at SCCC.
Don't get me wrong, many years later I came to realize what a value SCCC offered me. It allowed me to discover college and the responsibilities and expectations that are so much different than HS. It allowed me to transfer to Hofstra without any existing debt and I did so with almost ALL of my core distribution requirements (with the exception of math & science) completed and transferred. At the time of my transfer, Hofstra ACCEPTED all of my SCCC credits.
As I look back on my undergraduate years, both at Suffolk and later at Hofstra, I really came to appreciate the TRUE value of what community colleges offer. They are especially effective for the undecided or the students of modest means. My younger brother followed me to SCCC three years later when I was junior at Hofstra and he DID graduate with his A.A. before eventually transferring to San Francisco State University where he received his B.A.
I wish I knew back at SCCC my first semester what I came to know later. Had that been the case, I would have applied myself more, completed ALL the requirements for the A.A. and then transferred. What I can say now with many years of hindsight is that if I had it all over to do again, with the means I had then, I would gladly go back to SCCC with all its minor annoyances, do what needed doing and then transfer knowing that in the end, I would have gotten a great education at a bargain price and a lot less debt at the end of the process.
To students who are graduating from Long Island high schools, especially those in Suffolk County who may be undecided, give SCCC a chance. In the end, you'll graduate with less debt and off to new adventures. read more
