Daily Prompt – January 3, 2026

What colleges have you attended?

For someone who failed out of college the first time, the list of colleges I’ve attended is remarkably long.

I started at the University of Maryland Baltimore County when I was 18. I was a Biochemistry major. I was excited. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life and I was chasing it. I sought the professor I wanted to do research with in my freshman year and I made my desires known. He told me what I needed to do to get there but I was on his list. Everything was golden until I met Calculus. Calculus, technically Precalculus, was my nightmare class. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I failed it the first time and squeaked out a C the second time. Then I failed Chemistry 101 which was devastating to me because I was a chemistry junky. I had never failed classes before. In high school, I was an A/B student in mostly honors and G&T classes. This was a nightmare. I took Chemistry again in the summer and managed a D. My parents tried to convince me not to go back. This was 1998, I was 19 and dumb. I was convinced they didn’t mean it. That they wouldn’t truly accept their daughter being the first one in both families not to go to college. I also didn’t want to be a failure. But my second year was worse.

I stopped going to class. I would stay up late and get up in time to go to work at the bookstore. By the end of the that second year, I was on academic probation. I didn’t go back. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get a degree at that point. I was lost and aimless. My dreams destroyed in 2 years.

Eventually, like a year later in 2000, I moved to Virginia. There I started at Northern Virginia Community College in 2001. Initially, I was taking classes for the fun of it. My significant other at the time, was enrolled there and we would take classes together. I was taking one class a term and just having fun. Sign language and theater classes. Logic classes. I took a class that led to my working at the community college, different campus than I was going to at the time. I’ll get to that. After some time, I declared my major as Biotechnology. I continued to take classes for fun but also for my prerequisites and degree courses. I was mostly getting As and Bs. School was getting easier and fun again.

During this time, I got a job at the college, like I said. I was working at the Medical Education campus in the IT department. There I discovered the Medical Laboratory program and felt like it might be my path back to the medical research I had wanted to do all those years ago. This was a little more than 10 years since I started my first degree attempt.

I finished that program, and it is a program. Very specific order of classes and timeframes. It includes clinical rotations. By the time I did, I not only graduated with my A.A.S in Medical Laboratory Technology but my A.S. General Studies. I went from college failure to having 2 degrees. I swore I was done. I had a job in the lab before I even graduated. I loved what I was doing. I didn’t need more.

Or so I said. I graduated in 2012. By 2018 I was enrolled at Weber State University for their online Bachelor’s in Medical Laboratory Science. I finished this in 2 years, by the time I was 40. It was an ambitious goal. I was working 32 hours a week in the lab on evening shift and going to school full time. During that time we also bought a house and moved. I did it though, I finished and with Summa Cum Laude honors. I had come very far from the 18 years old that we started this journey with.

This degree led me in to laboratory leadership roles. It eventually took me off the bench and into Quality Assurance where my focus is now. Once again, I swore I was done. Until 2 years ago.

2 years ago, after moving to Florida and starting my new job. I was looking for something. I was bored and restless. Things in Florida were wonderful but also not, there was stuff in my personal life that wasn’t working the way I had anticipated and it was causing me lots of emotional turmoil. I found out that my employer had a grant program with Rasmussen University that would get me a Master’s degree without any cost to me. Not even reimbursement like I did for my bachelor’s degree. Oh yeah I forgot to mention I only paid for like one and a half classes of that degree out of pocket because I had exhausted the limits of reimbursement with how many classes I was taking at once. Anyway, thats where I am now. One year left from finishing my masters. Me, the girl who thought she’d never have a college degree.

My husband and partner joke with me that I will go for my Doctorate next. I keep saying no, but we’ve seen how thats worked out in the past. I really don’t plan on it. I do have plans for some certifications but first a nice break after I finish this degree.

I hope you enjoyed this trip with me!