Researching caused me to reflect back upon my life. I was an Honor Graduate of my high school class; actually I graduated 3 months early and was the "valedictorian" of that graduating group of students. I had a gold tassel and a gold scarf...I was responsible, dependable, and very mature for my age. Why didn't I go to college? Almost 20 years later I look back and see that even I, as a 17-year-old high school graduate, did not have the responsibility level to pursue a college education. I didn't know what was supposed to be done and quite frankly, I was glad to be done with school! The adults in my life at that time did not provide the guidance, leadership, and push that I needed to pursue a college education. No school counselor pulled me aside to tell me that my grades were extremely exceptional and cover all the areas I needed to know about going to college. I was the product of a single-income family. My mother has always been a housewife & mother and my father worked a fulltime bluecollar job to take care of all of us. Neither had been to college, didn't know the first thing about going to or preparing for college, and didn't have the money to send me to college. After fifteen years of working fulltime in the finance industry I managed to complete approximately 2 years of community college along with several short certificate courses and a one-year certificate course relative to my occupational field. I cannot help but wonder where I would be today if I had gone to college.