By Brianna Stevens | Assistant Editor
Photo by Benjamin Richard
MWCC student, Rebecca “Beckuh” Carmosino spoke about the stigmas of going to community college as opposed to a traditional four year school. Carmosino is currently taking business courses. She went to Holyoke Community College last year, and took music courses at Keene State.
Carmosino said, “I feel like I’m more prepared for the real world because I actually have financial responsibilities and I have real world experiences in jobs rather than quick summer jobs.” Juggling an education and a job, or other responsibilities is the biggest difference between community college and four year institutions.
When asked about the difficulty of classes, Carmosino said, “They’re pretty consistent across the board.” She quoted one of her professors who teaches at community college and a four year school, who said they used the same materials for each class. She said, “You have the same amount of work as four year colleges, but you have so much more on the side.”
Carmosino explained the stigmas she believed before attending community college. She said, “Before I went to community college, I got the perception that it was lesser than four year school, like a continuation of high school, that it wouldn’t be as hard as a four year school, or that people who go to community college aren’t as smart as people who go to a four year college, but I definitely don’t believe that now.”
She said sometimes people at four year institutions will say community college is “like High school 2.0,” and people think they’re better educated because of that belief.
Carmosino recalled, “One time I had a professor at Keene State tell me, ‘This might be acceptable at Community College, but it’s not acceptable here.’ That’s the only time I’ve ever felt belittled for going to Community College.” She takes music classes at Keene State for free because they needed a bassoonist, and she volunteered, so she is getting credits for playing for them.
Community college students use their real life experience to make wise decisions. Carmosino said, “Those people want to save money. They’re actually more intelligent because they’re saving money by living at home.”
She said she believes some people think they can go to community college for a cheap education. She looks at her education as inexpensive, and said, “There’s a huge difference between cheap and inexpensive. Cheap is bad quality, and inexpensive is you’re not paying a lot for it.” The quality of a community college education is the same as a four year institution, but less expensive. The idea that community college is “cheap” is harmful to students who want to better themselves, and be financially savvy about it.
Carmosino said, “Community college is regular college, with the added stresses of adult responsibilities.”
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