The Best Two (three) Years of my Life #JucoRoute
Most people go to some sort of higher education after they graduate high school. Most people choose the 4-year route. Going to the big schools that everyone knows. Living it up if it is a party school, cracking down if it is a harder school, or just coasting until they figure out what they want to do with their life. Another popular option is going to a trade school. Picking up a skill that makes you a "wanted" person. There are trades schools for everything Plumbing, Welding, Truck Driving, Computer programing ect.
The option that gets over looked is the Junior College route. When i was looking at schools in high school i didn't pay any attention to them. I always told my self " I dont want to go to a community college. Thats for the boring people that just stay at home.". Little did I know that of course that was where I was going to end up.
I ended up going to Howard College which is in town that unless you are from west Texas or a Miami dolphin fan you will have no idea where it is. It is in the great town of Big Spring 30 min east of Midland/Odessa, about an hour west of Abilene, an hour south of Lubbock, and about 45 minutes north of San Angelo. This little town gave me more then i would have ever expected.
This school gave me then I could ever imagined. To start it gave me a chance to explore the field of college athletics at a level I didn't think was possible after i stopped playing sports. I got to travel around the country with some of the best college athletes in the country. From Softball to Baseball to Basketball to even Rodeo every single team would compete.
The one thing I always loved and still do was that those player even though they wanted to make it to the next level, and a lot did have an ego with how good they were they were there because they just wanted to play. The passion and the drive to just play a game that they love a little bit longer then they or other people may have thought they would.
Going the Juco route also gave me a place to meet people that i never would have dreamed to meet. From a Russian, some crazy California softball players, to some Hawaiian Rodeo people, to some of the best Baseball players in the country. All of which i still keep in touch with to this day. Some who are still some of my closest friends.
Once I left Howard i always ran into people who went the Juco route. All of which have the same stories, experiences, and application for that school. I cant remember the last one I talked to that didn't say "If I wouldn't have gone there i wouldn't be where i am today." or some variation of that phrase.
For some it was a step in a direction they didn't think was possible. For others it maybe their last chance at making it. For some its just the only option they had to keep playing the game they love.
A lot of people may look down on going to a two year school. But personally i wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for those 2(3) years at that school, in a town that no one has heard of, at a school no one has heard of and I am thankful for it everyday.