ASTORIA
WOMAN
THRIVES AT
COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
WITHOUT
STUDENT
LOANS
By Bill Parry
This article was first published
by the Queens Courier. When she was
growing up in the
Ditmars section of
Astoria, Erica Rosa
had a plan. When
she was graduating
from St. John’s Prep, last year, Rosa was
determined to go to a four-year school
on Long Island.
“I really wanted the whole college
experience of going away and dorming
and I had my eyes on Molloy College
near Rockville Center,” she said.
Rosa was accepted to Molloy and
applied for financial aid and was
confident that she would get enough to
cover the neary $50,000 per year to cover
tuition, room and board and other college
fees. But Rosa was offered less than $20,000
and realized she would have to take out more
than $20,000 to $30,000 per year in loans.
Around the same time, her grandfather,
whom she considers a second father, got sick
and his recovery was in question. After much
thought, Rosa realized it wasn’t the right time
to go to a private college and incur so much
debt, so she thought she would take a year
off, but her mother, who hadn’t been able to
go to college herself, having become a single
mother at age 21, insisted she go to college
in the fall.
“But my mom didn’t want me to take time
off and suggested I check out LaGuardia
Community College because it was super
convenient just down the road in Long Island
City and affordable,” Rosa said. “I never even
considered a community college and my
guidance counselors always encouraged the
four-year college experience.”
She applied at the LaGuardia Community
College campus using a process known as
“Direct Admit.”
“I got in on the spot and arranged my fall class
schedule. Everything worked out, for sure,”
Astoria's Erica Rosa gave up her dream of a four-year
college and found her path at LaGuardia Community
College. Photo courtesy of LaGuardia Community College.
Rosa said. “I’m a big
believer that everything happens for a
reason. I absolutely love it at LaGuardia. I’ve
been able to find what I’m passionate about,
and have met so many incredible people.”
Rosa got an on-campus job on the college’s
Street Team, a group of students who work with
LaGuardia’s Marketing & Communications team
to produce content and campaigns to reach
students with vital information to help them
along their way to graduation. She realized she
had a passion for marketing, which she plans to
pursue as a career.
Now 19, Rosa is currently a Liberal Arts:
Social Science and Humanities major with a 3.4
GPA. Her goal is to graduate from LaGuardia
and then earn her bachelor’s in marketing,
hopefully at NYU, where her mother works in
the law school library.
Rosa has avoided the burden of crushing
student loan debt that has affected more than
44 million Americans totalling more than $1.56
trillion, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Her mother paid for her first year and she is
currently applying for scholarships from the
LaGuardia Community College Foundation and
other programs.
“I would say to others experiencing the same
financial and family situation I was in to check
out community colleges instead,” Rosa said.
“”You should ask yourself, is four years of fun
really worth all of that debt when you could
have gone a different route? You shouldn’t
just go to a four-year college simply because
everyone else is”
Her grandfather is doing much better now.
He’s currently home with his wife of 47 years,
recovering from a life-threatening sepsis
infection that required the amputation of
several fingers and toes.
“He’s doing much better, thank god,” she
said.
Anyone interested in enrolling at LaGuardia
Community College should call 718-482-500,
email admissions@lagcc.cuny.edu or visit
the admissions office, like Rosa did, at 29-10
Thomson Avenue, Room C-102, in Long Island
City.
QNS.COM
10 FALL 2019
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