［本文より］ Growing up in a rural community，there were not that many obvious choices after high school for those my graduating class. Sure，some of us would go on to college，but many would stay behind to take over the family farm or dad's small business. Money was always a looming issue－how could a kid afford college? His parents were not likely to be able to help out much，so a student had to figure out how to support himself through college. Scholarships were hard to come by，considering that we had to compete with kids in much bigger schools with many more classes and opportunities available to them. My high school didn't even offer chemistry class each year; it was only offered every other year，alternating with Physics，because there was only one science teacher--for the whole school. Though our teachers were very dedicated，our public high school was not meant as a college-prep. It was meant to teach the basics and then turn us loose to find our own livelihood.

columnist　Gina Bertolino