Trekking to the End of My Rainbow

By Jania Jones Editor

As I sit here, writing to all of you, I almost don’t believe myself. I can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that I did it. Just beyond the horizon (pun intended) I can see a diploma with my name on it, front and center.

If you would’ve approached me two years ago and said that I would be graduating with my Associate’s Degree from Housatonic before graduating high school, I would have never believed it. You know how as kids, we are told that there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? The idea of actually reaching this goal sounded as outlandish as finding a pot of gold, with a dancing leprechaun to celebrate.

It all started with a TikTok I saw during the Summer of 2019. In this video, a girl explained her dual enrollment process and how she achieved her Associate’s Degree as a senior in high school. I was completely dumbfounded by this concept, never having heard of it before but decided to ask my mom about it. The idea of being able to achieve this unique accomplishment while preparing for my future really enticed me, and ultimately led me to moving forward towards the enrollment process. One thing led to another and it was August 10th, if my memory serves me correctly, that I went in to take my placement exam.

I went in with another friend from my school. I would get to know this friend tremendously well over the next semester as we commuted an hour and a half each way two times a week together on the MetroNorth. While we often rotated napping schedules and played uno with 30 card starting hands, we also prepared each other for the highs and lows that were soon to come. While I tested into Pre-Calc with Professor Philips, Latoya enrolled in public speaking, which lit the match for our future as college students!

During that time, I was able to test my limits and really see where I stood not necessarily as a student but as a learner. It’s always been fairly easy for me to do well in school but being in this completely new environment, with completely new material tested my perseverance and ultimately provided me with a lot of life skills I will use throughout my entire adult life. Despite all of this, I was not performing at a mastery level in this course and doubted my ability to pass the class. After many sessions in office hours, and an impressive amount of tears, my family and I decided it might be best to withdraw from the class. Regardless, I left that semester with so many new life skills that I still use to this day and will 100% use, decades into the future. While I had many ups and downs throughout my first year I finally made it to the Summer of 2020 in one piece. Our society was in shambles, but I actually found myself benefitting from the hold on in-person learning. As a full time high school student, I struggled with balancing the time commitment that being dually enrolled in a school so far from home required.Commuting to and

“Looking back from school each week was really taking a toll on me in the spring so switching to virtual learning was exactly what I needed. That summer I took over the last 2 years I a leap and enrolled in 3 expedited courses. am in awe of how far I’ve Professor Cain, my instructor of Intro to Biology, was absolutely amazing. I distinctly come, and can’t wait to remember how on the first day of classes she wrote my name on our digital white board see what I’ll accomplish and drew a heart around it simply because I answered the question correctly. Simple next.” things like that made it easier to enjoy class and want to be there as a student. She truly showed me that learning could be an engaging and two-sided experience. On our last day of Zoom classes we all turned our cameras on to say final goodbyes and I found myself getting unexpectedly emotional. During this time I was able to exceed what I once thought were my limits and find an entire new side of myself that was exciting to learn. I believe that my perspective on teacher-student relationships changed and finally saw school for what it should be, an opportunity, not an obligation. While unfortunately my time with Mrs. Cain had to come to an end, after 5 short weeks, I was determined to show the world her kindness. That following semester, in my first ever official writing class at HCC, I wrote a profile about her, which you may have actually read from our 2020 Fall issue! I went on and on about how much I enjoyed her class only to realize now that it was her as a person that impacted me, not what I was learning. From there on I began realizing that achieving my Associate’s was actually quite plausible. I officially declared my major in Journalism and Communications, which is also when I was assigned to Professor Mark

as my advisor. While under his guidance, I was able to come out of my shell as a writer and truly embrace what I wanted to tell the world.

As I explored this new realm of writing and communicating, I realized that I wanted to use my ability to write to spread awareness and information to keep people up to date on new perspectives, events, and etc. It was quite terrifying and frustrating at first; I didn’t want to talk to new people and I didn’t want to ask for help, but despite all of this, I knew that there was something big I needed to say to the world.

Thus, many Teams chats later, I am able to confidently say that I am proud of my work as a writer. It may not have the best word choice, or the strongest organizational flow, but it is authentically mine, which is what matters most. This is what led me to stay as committed as I am to Publications. Writing for Horizons gave me a rush of excitement and ultimately showed me how multi-faceted writing can be.

While giving interviews is still my biggest enemy I look back and see how much I’ve grown from the work I produced in the past. Writing is a fulfilling experience that one may only understand until what they’ve written has been put out for the world to see. As you lean into your voice (like I have, and still am) you begin to realize that you truly have so much to say! Sometimes the words flow like Niagra Falls and other times they are stagnant like a tranquil pond. Whatever the case may be, realizing the effort and excitement that comes with writing inspired me to continue to write and continue to share what I have to say with the world, in whatever capacity that may be, beyond HCC. During this time I have doubted my abilities and my strength numerous times. I thought I wasn’t smart enough, or prepared enough, to enter this new realm of my education. Despite this, I was able to come through on the other side, and finally meet the end of my rainbow.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash