Cookie provides some reasons why you shouldn’t drop out of college.

Translations/summaries are available below in both Spanish and English. These are designed as resources for working with the text in ASL.

Visual Description

African American woman wearing red mid length sleeve shirt and is shown from the waist up. She is standing in front of a dark-grey screen. A white CATIE Center logo is in the lower right corner of the screen. The woman narrates the entire video in American Sign Language.

GTC Resource Library

No dejes la universidad

Por qué no debes dejar la universidad. Este relato se basa en mi experiencia.

Yo quería ir a la universidad para ser una profesora de educación general a nivel de primaria. Llegué a ir y me la pasé bien, pero después me dejó de gustar y la dejé.

Luego tuve dos niños, mi propia familia y quise ir a buscar trabajo, pero me encontré con obstáculos. Hoy en día la mayoría de trabajos piden un título universitario: no puedo trabajar como profesora porque no tengo mi título, tampoco puedo trabajar en una oficina sin él, quiero abrir mi negocio, no puedo sin un título, para ser doctora, profesora de arte, etc., para todo ello se necesita un título universitario.

Por otro parte, si no deseas regresar a la universidad debes conformarte con un trabajo básico, como en un restaurante o Walmart. Lo malo es que la mayoría de estos trabajos no pagan un buen sueldo.  

Es mejor quedarse en la universidad hasta graduarse, todo depende de la perseverancia, esto te beneficiará a futuro. Más adelante cuando tengas tus hijos o nietos comparte esto con ellos, aconséjales que no dejen de estudiar porque su futuro depende de ello.

Como lo dije antes, es mejor terminar de estudiar, por mi parte aun no he regresado a la universidad pero debo hacerlo. Tengo que enfocarme, trabajar arduamente y regresar para obtener mi título, poder enseñar y ayudar a esos niños a triunfar.

La universidad es siempre fantástica, te ayuda a tener una mejor vida, a tu futuro. Por favor, quédate en la universidad y termínala.

Don’t drop out of college!

Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t drop out of college.   Based on my own experience, I always had plans of going to college to become an elementary school teacher. I began my college career and before finishing my degree, I dropped out. I do have two children and after they came along, I decided to go looking for a job. I immediately began to feel very frustrated in my job search because in today’s society, almost all jobs require a degree. Like I said, I wanted to become a teacher and I could no longer do this without a degree. The same goes for an office job, working for a business, becoming a doctor, or even an art teacher. They all require some sort of degree in that field. If you don’t have the desire to go back to school, you’ll have to start searching for lower level income jobs such as working in a restaurant, at Wal-Mart, or other more basic jobs that do not require a degree. These jobs do not pay as well.

Therefore, if you want to earn a good salary, you should stay in school and make it all the way to graduation. You have to exercise patience and determination to gain the experience that will benefit you for the entirety of your life. Then, when you have children and grandchildren, you can pass along that message to them. It is important to stay in school because your future will rely on it. I dropped out and have not made the step to go back yet. Now I must work even harder to make it possible to go back to school and finish my degree.  Then, one day I can start teaching and help to develop the minds of young children. College is one of the best places to help your future success in life. So, please stay in school!