On May 16, 2008, Fresno City College will be having its graduation ceremony for the students who survived the trek threw junior college.

Not all students make it to the finish line; they fall short for a multitude of reasons.

Fred ‘Skydog’ Emerling has been a counselor at FCC for over 20 years. It took him 17 years before he received a bachelor degree in psychology. He talked about some of the many of the reasons why student fail to complete college.

No, he was not a poor student, Emerling was not sure what career he wanted to pursue. He switched majors and had to complete the new requirement that went along with the different major. “The average person changes careers four to five times in a life time,” Emerling said. He also took three years off to work.

He equated a career to a single person who is not sure whom he wants to marry, “If you don’t know who you want to marry, then you have to date people,” Emerling called it “dating different careers.”

According to Emerling, many people enter college thinking they want to become a police officer, for example. Once that person realize that an officers job is not all chasing bad guys, it is more paperwork than anything, they lose interest in that career and switch to another major.

Emerling listed seven random reasons why students fail to complete college.

They don’t need or want an associate’s arts degree

Many are simply taking a few classes here for a variety of reasons. Some were kicked out of the CSU or UC and are simply bring up their grades and some are transferring and would have to take additional classes for a degree.

Some students fail a required class in their last semester

Many of those who fail in their final semester do so because of family or issues surrounding work.

Some students drop a needed class

Most of the time it has to do issues surrounding Family or work. Some students drop the needed class because they know they are going to fail.

Some students get the grade D in a class that require a C or better

Not all FCC class require a student to have a C or better to successfully complete the course.

Some students expect college to be like high school

College is not like high school where faculty members notify the parents when their child is failing. The college student is expected to be more independent.

Some student don’t apply for the degree on time

When a student is nearing the end of the final semester, he or she has a deadline when they can apply for the degree. If students fail to meet the deadline, that person will have to wait until the end of the next semester to walk across the stage.

Some students are lazy

That is the person who waits until the last minute to complete a course or file for a degree. Those students find themselves failing and making excuses, hoping to convince someone to show them pity.
Emerling graduated from Palo Verde high in Tuscan Arizona. He then went to Glendale Community College where he majored in history.
Between the years of 1970 to 73 Emerling earned a bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Alabama.
Between the years of 1974 to 79 Emerling worked and went to college at the Cal State University of Stanislaus, under a history major.
He transferred to the University of Arizona in 1979. In 1985 Emerling received a PHD in psychology.

“I tell students: don’t think how long you’ll be in school getting your degree; think how many years you’ll be able to work doing what you want.” Emerling concluded, “I finished my degree when I was 35 -it took 17 years, BUT at 35, I still had 30 years left to work!!”
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