Ahhh, the days in high school. The last years of youth before evolving into adulthood, enjoying minor responsibilities, rebelling without a cause, homecoming every year, shouting, “’08 is the best” to the underclassmen.Yeah, great times … great times that I now regret.

As I look back and list the lessons I learned from high school, I see many social lessons and few academic ones.

I remember my Pops used to ask me every day I came home, “Zaman, what did you learn today?” I told him in order of my schedule: math, biology, English and soccer.

Now, I can specifically talk about those classes: Dissect the meticulous task of triple variable factors. GOOOLLL! I have solved and remember.

When I started here at TCC, I was still in high school mode — talking to anyone I knew, skipping classes when I felt like it, disregarding my assignments and life greater than school.

Big mistake there.

It was at least until I saw my GPA translate into academic probation.

What really slapped me in the face was the concept that I have control of my schedule. Unlike high school, where courses were aligned to pass the TAKS test, here I could choose the teachers, classes and times that made school easy.

I started to appreciate my classes for what they were. My English composition class had me writing articles about abortion. Ethics class had me questioning whether I was doing moral deeds for the sake of it or for the benefit. Basically, I was doing the opposite of my high school days — thinking.

It’s even more the case now that I have to pay for my education, which makes it worth more for me to pass (that means I’m paying to give a speech in one class).

Quite frankly, I was reluctant to even go to a community college. It wasn’t until I saw the D’s on my final grades that I took it upon myself to bottle up my emotions, bury a hole in the ground, throw in napalm and detonate every angst that I had about education and start to appreciate it for what its worth.