Often times when people hear the words “community college” they are quick to judge. “Why would you want to go there?” “There’s no way I’m staying home for college!” or my personal favorite “I have no idea what I want to major in but there’s no way I’d ever go to a community college.” First of all, that is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. If you have no idea what you want to major in, community colleges are made to help you discover your interests, while saving money at the same time.

When I was in high school I honestly hadn’t thought about college one bit until my friends brought up what schools they were applying to. At that point, I panicked because I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had always had an interest in food (I mean who doesn’t love food) so I looked up schools that had culinary programs, which, not many do (that I could afford anyway). The only school that interested me was SUNY Delhi, so I applied, then never really thought much else about it because I just assumed I was going to get in. Well, I was wrong. I didn’t take the right classes in high school and didn’t really prepare myself at all for the application process. Now at this point I REALLY panicked because my entire plan just got thrown out the window. There aren’t many other SUNY schools that offer culinary as a major, so I looked at my community college only to be left with more disappointment.

The community college in my town is made up of two separate branches, the Utica campus which is the main campus and about 10 minutes from my house, and the Rome campus which is about 40 minutes from my house. Of course with my luck, all of the culinary classes through MVCC were offered at the Rome campus, which means I would have to commute a total of 80 minutes back and forth everyday. Not having my own car at the time, this just wasn’t going to work. So I began to look at other community colleges throughout New York. I knew a few people from my town that went to Schenectady County Community College for culinary, and they said that they loved it so I decided to check it out. When I visited there for the first time I absolutely fell in love. My impression stayed the same throughout the two years that I attended there, and I wouldn’t change my experience for the world.

The week before I left to move into the dorms at SCCC, I won’t lie, I was a nervous wreck. I was even considering just canceling my deposits and staying home. But something told me to go through with it, because the experience would be life changing, and that’s exactly what it was. I now have my associates degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management, and I’m happy to say that I’ve met tons of great friends (and my amazing boyfriend) along the way.

I now attend SUNY Plattsburgh, and I can honestly say that if I had to choose between the two, I would go back to SCCC in a heartbeat. Don’t get me wrong, Plattsburgh is a great school, but I miss everything that SCCC had to offer. All of my classes were hands on which made it a lot easier for me to comprehend what was going on. The class sizes were also really small, so I was able to meet a lot of people. Even though most of my classes were eight-hour-long cooking labs, the people I met in my classes made it worth it. We got to cook and serve for banquets as big as 500 people which is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done. SCCC also offers many different internships that you could do, such as the Disney College Program and the Kentucky Derby. Although I didn’t take part in either, I heard nothing but positive feedback from the people that did them.

So in my opinion, if you’re someone that is looking to going to school, whether it be for the first time or if you are looking to go back to school, I highly recommend giving a community college a chance. Even if it's not in your own community, I know plenty of other people that attended community colleges that weren't in their own town and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. Now by no means am I trying to degrade state schools, I’m just saying that you could get the same, if not better, education at a community college while also saving a ton of money.