New Start for Spring 2011 in SCC

As I graduate from UCR with a degree in history, Im going through the reality that this doesnt mean anything. I have no useful skill to provide other than researching or have knowledge of some things from the past.
So, Ive gone back to city college. And I like it. It takes me away from my bubble of UCR. Sure I have lots of friends there and made lots of them. But, it was a bubble. Everyone was my age, everyone was happy, everyone was taken care of.
When I come here, I see working people alongside students. I see the financial aid lines 200 people deep. In my microbiology class, theres old women there intent to get in and to promote themselves in life. In lab my professor goes over the safety procedures of the lab and raises concerns regarding pregnancy and AIDS, such that those who have it, may want to leave so they wont expose themselves or their child to harmful chemicals and microbes. When listening to this I remembered that we had none of this in UCR, Everyone at UCR was from rich privileged families who supported them. Pregnancy was not an issue. Nor was AIDS or other diseases. But here at SCC, this was real life. People are pregnant. People have communicable diseases, some people have health problems. I just thought this was a reality check for me.
When I walk to class I see little kids running past. Their parents a few years older than me. This is how life is. The unexpected does happen and here is the results of their actions. When waiting for my walking class in the dark, cold, and windy night, this "father" brings his kid to practice with him. The little boy was just walking, maybe a few years old. And the kid has no hat. no jacket, no shoes/boots. and he was just left out there. His father kept saying that he has no money, though he has a nice haircut and underarmor shirt on. His coaches keep telling him to put his baby inside a room or something or to get a job to get him a hat, but this guy was a jock, and he was like, yeah yeah yeah. Its just sad. What hurt me the most was seeing him throw a tennis ball at his son. Like how you throw something in the trash from far away. He threw it roughly hitting the child hard, but the child didnt cry because it was unaware of what hit him. Its pretty sad to see. But, thats life and this is the result of his decision. Also in my walking class, when waiting, I had this old asian lady come up to me to ask if I were the teacher. And I laughed. Thought it was cute lol.
Then, I had my swimming class. My teacher seemed energetic. She was a grandmother and looked relatively young still. In my class, there were old couples sitting next to me. All of the older people there were either retired or over 40. This shows me how there are old people who still want to go out and be active. Its really nice to see. Also I saw this fat white lady with her small chinese husband. Made me smile. especially when she leaned her head on him.
But its nice. I never would have seen this at UCR. The only thing close was seeing these soroity girls go out and buy a puppy, and not take care of it. So, these experiences really made me think critically into what life is all about