Not just a class. A reintroduction to College.

My experiences in Paul Gasparo’s English 111 class at Tidewater Community College goes beyond that of a simple English class it has served as a reintroduction to college as a whole.
I started going to college when I was 16 years old, but never finished because I thought college was only a means of getting a job and making a good living. Fortunately, and unfortunately, I have also been very successful in my business endeavors from a young age. So, inevitably I stopped going to college in order to continue making more money. It wasn’t until later that I determined that the reason for college is not just to get a job, but to improve oneself.
Beyond the basic knowledge you get at college, you also learn skills and knowledge that is specific to what you want to do. I have started 3 companies to date all without a college degree and now I could not express the value of college enough. I have started each company successfully, so it would be easy for someone looking from the outside to perceive that a degree for me would have been a waste of money. What they don’t know is how much money I have wasted making mistakes that I probably wouldn’t have if I had finished my degree.
I understand that college tuition as gotten so expensive that everyone must step back and wonder if it is, but it is. I have loss more than double what it would cost to get a Master in Business Administration. Instead of paying for the education at an intuition, I paid with trial and error. Some of my mistakes were so simple, but very costly. One thing I will say though, at the same time there is definitely something to say about learning by hard knocks.
Another aspect of college that is often not realized until later, is the differing perspectives you pick up from students and instructors alike. Generally, as you are growing up since your environment remains constant, you never meet anyone other people that are part of your little world. In college, you get a bunch of backgrounds and experiences all thrown in together. It is really amazing how much you learn beyond the subject being taught. Add in the teachers’ background and life experience, and it really becomes something special.
This is where Paul Gasparo really shined for me. His perspective on life is much different than mine. My life is very structured and I am forced to conform in some respects to what my clients expect of me. I like his departure from what I would say is a normal point of view. Even as structured as my life is, I definitely think outside the box. Given the kind of business I am in and the level that I am at, the people that I am with on a daily basis are all pretty much the same. It is refreshing to see someone else that thinks out of the box as well.
I would also congratulate his style of teaching. It is a good blend of strict and forgiving. Being a core class, I think it is important for students to learn the importance of accountability and turning things in on time. But, given the fact that this may be some students first college experience, I also think that he is really fair and therefore not spurring discouragement at such a tender transition into college.
I would certainly recommend Paul as an inductor to any future English 111 course takers. And would definitely take one of his classes again.