Back when I was an apathetic high school student with lackluster grades, my guidance counselor gave me several warnings about the need to clean up my act in order to get into a good college.

He painted a bleak picture of my future, which consisted of attending community college with “the burnouts,” and scavenging the meager career-opportunity scraps left by university graduates.

Miraculously, I was accepted to IU in 1996. What my counselor neglected to address was the issue of paying for college, which turned out to be a much bigger challenge than my classes were.

After many arduous years of balancing a university curriculum with a full-time work schedule, I found myself tens of thousands of dollars in debt ... working the same job I’d had before being handed a college diploma.

Like more than 5,000 others around town, I’ve opted to attend Bloomington’s “other” institute of higher learning, Ivy Tech. And while I loved IU, I’ve found my community college experience to be a breath of fresh air. I’m earning a more lucrative degree while paying tiny tuition fees and interacting with students ranging in age from 18 to 60.

My classmates each have their reasons for choosing Ivy Tech. Many were laid off from area plants and found themselves unable, despite years of work experience, to find a job in today’s market without a degree. Having had pensions pulled out from under them, they opted for the most economically friendly institution they could find.

Some have been out of high school for 20 years and needed a refresher course in a few subjects before diving into college-level studies. Some, having college-aged kids of their own, preferred classmates who have been doing their own laundry for more than a month.

A few, like me, slacked off on their high school studies for one reason or another. All, however, are smart, responsible individuals, perfectly capable of “hacking it” at a “real” college.

When I tell certain people, particularly those unaware that I hold a bachelor’s degree, that I’m studying nursing at a community college, they wrinkle their noses in distaste. I try not to hold it against them, as (thanks to my guidance counselor) I used to have a hint of that same attitude years ago. But I can tell them from experience that the quality of education is the same, only more straightforward.

I no longer enjoy the frills of a gym membership or history of rock ’n’ roll classes, and the first day of every class involves a normal lecture (no more of that “Here’s your syllabus, you can go home now” stuff). I do get a free parking permit, though.

My university education was quite valuable, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. However, that experience is not for some people, and those people deserve the same respect for applying themselves academically toward furthering their careers and developing themselves as individuals.

Community college: It’s not just for burnouts anymore!

Aubrey Donaldson is a bartender/waitress and a nursing student. Her column appears every other Wednesday in The Herald-Times. You can reach her at stiletto_zamboni@yahoo.com.