Paladin

Returning to or starting at LBCC means loads of people scurrying around to find buildings, classrooms and mingling with new and old friends. Amidst the chaotic circus of the first day, there are some who haven't forgotten the true intention behind the tall, intimidating buildings filled with chalkboards and tiny desks and chairs: the campus that sits before the students can and has dramatically changed lives for the better.

Even though I was too scholastically exhausted to feel excitement about graduation, I signed up to participate specifically to bring closure to the years of my life spent at LBCC. Since I had never attended a graduation ceremony, I asked friends who had graduated from LBCC about their experience.

Women spend billions of dollars nationally to get the right make-up, a $400 pair of sunglasses or that prada handbag they feel they have to own so they can look like and identify with the models portrayed on television and in magazines. Self-image, whether it comes from celebrities, magazines or television paints a picture for women of how they are supposed to be.

Sixty units seems like a long road of late-night study groups and 10-page research papers for a good 2-3 years. I'm not going to sugarcoat the vision, because it is absolutely true. With every great accomplishment comes great sacrifice. The sacrifice is always looked at first and usually consumes the mind.