{"id":709,"date":"2018-12-16T21:57:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stand.org\/illinois\/?p=709"},"modified":"2022-07-08T23:39:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T23:39:41","slug":"i-wasnt-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stand.org\/illinois\/our-stories\/i-wasnt-prepared\/","title":{"rendered":"I Wasn’t Prepared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My path to college wasn\u2019t easy. I got expelled from high school and spent my junior and part of my senior year at an alternative school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I finally graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So, I took out a federal loan and enrolled in a private two-year college, where I had to take remedial English and math classes just to catch up. Then I withdrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took a semester off and tried again. I enrolled in a public community college where I still had to take remedial courses, but there were resources available to help me get through them and people encouraging me along the way. That support system helped me graduate in three years with my associate\u2019s degree. Now I\u2019m working toward my bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t have to be like this for me.<\/a> If I\u2019d had a College and Career Coordinator at my high school, and better access to tools and resources to avoid remediation, I could\u2019ve graduated prepared to attend a four-year college or enter the workforce on day one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too many Illinois students have stories like mine. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. We can write better stories for new generations of Illinois students. Tell your leaders in Springfield to get moving with thoughtful solutions to help high school students succeed.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My path to college wasn\u2019t easy, but I\u2019m making the most of my opportunity now. I know that students like me across Illinois can succeed in the classroom and in their careers if we better prepare them for the future. Together, we can make sure students are ready for college and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thriving Illinois means a thriving workforce. Let\u2019s make it happen, together.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My path to college wasn\u2019t easy. I got expelled from high school and spent my junior and part of my senior year at an alternative school. When I finally graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So, I took out a federal loan and enrolled in a private two-year college, where I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","color_schema":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-success","tag-high-school-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nI Wasn't Prepared - Stand for Children Illinois<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If I\u2019d had a College and Career Coordinator at my high school, and better access to tools and resources to avoid remediation, I could\u2019ve graduated prepared to attend a four-year college or enter the workforce on day one.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stand.org\/illinois\/our-stories\/i-wasnt-prepared\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Wasn't Prepared\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If I\u2019d had a College and Career Coordinator at my high school, and better access to tools and resources to avoid remediation, I could\u2019ve graduated prepared to attend a four-year college or enter the workforce on day one.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/stand.org\/illinois\/our-stories\/i-wasnt-prepared\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stand for Children Illinois\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/standillinois\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-16T21:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-08T23:39:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/stand.org\/illinois\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/Brandon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@illinoisstand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@illinoisstand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"I Wasn’t Prepared\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-16T21:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-08T23:39:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":303,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/Brandon.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"High School Success\"],\"articleSection\":[\"High School Success\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stand.org\\\/illinois\\\/our-stories\\\/i-wasnt-prepared\\\/\",\"name\":\"I Wasn't Prepared - 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