Running Start seemed like a dream program to me, but as I’ll go into detail in my next post, there weren’t too many people that actually entered the program. So here, I’m going to go into the Pros and Cons of going into the Running Start program.

Pros (ones that I knew about prior to the program)

• The cost of joining the program and the cost of tuition at the community college, Rock Valley College, would be completely covered by my high school.
  
• Graduating from college with an Associate of Science degree along with my high school degree meant if I wanted to go to a four year school, then my credits would transfer, and I would only need two more years of college to get my Bachelors of Science.
• It’s a freaking Associate of Science degree. Who can say they graduated high school with an Associate of Science degree?
• Freedom. Having to depend on myself to drive to college, having to depend on myself to bring my own lunch (or buy one), and being treated like an adult at school were all things that would be new to me, but these new responsibilities would be worth it given I would finally be treated like an adult.

Cons (ones that I knew about prior to the program)

• The biggest con for everyone was that the Running Start program made it where you never had to go back to high school for classes. You would become a full-time college student. This meant you didn’t get to participate in gym with your buddies, and you wouldn’t see your friends everyday (i.e., your high school experience would be extremely diminished). Sure, you can still go to prom, homecoming, and all of the sports games, but you probably won’t be as close to your friends who go to these events because you’re attending college, and they’re attending high school.
• Up until freshman year, we all thought we would get a bus ride to the college, but budget cuts got rid of the bus ride. So we all had to drive to the college. The college was 13 miles away, and it took half-an-hour to get there. We also had to have a driver license to drive there obviously, which is tricky because you had to be at least 16 to get the license, you had to get your drive times in, and you had to do schooling to get your license. Driving to school also meant we had to have a car with insurance, and we had to pay for the gas to get to school.
  • Fun fact: one of my really good friends, who was the smartest kid in the whole grade, wasn’t going to do the program even though he wanted to. He didn’t have his license, so he couldn’t drive himself to get the college. Luckily, I could drive, and I offered to pick him up and drive him to school every day he needed to be there. It worked out perfectly because our schedules were similar in regards to what days we had to be there, so I could drive him to school for his classes. I might’ve had to wake up much earlier to get him to a class that was a couple hours before mine (and the same went for him), but I’m happy that I helped him complete the program. I also had to use his car for a while too, so it worked out great.

To me, the Pros definitely outweighed the Cons. The only Con I had to worry about was the high school experience one because I could drive and my mom would cover the insurance and gas for me. So that leaves the high school experience versus an Associate of Science degree tuition free with two years of freedom. Psh, is this a joke? Of course I’m going with the Associate of Science degree!

Even when I was in eighth grade, I knew that I had to be smart financially. My dad was handicapped most of my life by a stroke, and my mom was unemployed for several years, so I knew that I didn’t have a lot of money to waste on college given my parents couldn’t help me with tuition. So when I heard in eighth grade that I could get two years of college for free, I knew I would do everything I possibly could to get into Running Start. I mean, sure there was the aspect of acting stupid with your friends at high school, but I knew I had to be financially smart.

These were all things I considered before I entered the program, and I knew which side won. Not one ounce of me wanted to not do it, and I was excited for what was to come when junior year came. But first, I had to get past the accuplacer.