My name is Fe H. and I am currently a student at Highline. I want to share a few tips on how to grow and succeed as you attend college here at Highline. We all come from different places in the world and no matter where we come from or how different our family environments are, we are all important in our own way.

I have been incarcerated for over three years and I fight to belong and to feel I’m important. We belong here no matter where we come from. We are all here together now and we are here to support one another.

My first tip is we need to support and encourage each other in getting our degrees in the career path of our choosing, even if we are undecided, we still need to support one another. Not everyone has support at home from family and friends, whether that is because we decided against what our family and friends wanted us to do or we are just on a different path than they are. Being able to believe and support yourself will help guide you to be successful with the path you are on; however, believing in yourself and others can not only help you be successful but others around you as well.

We all belong here together! My dream career is to work with troubled teens and kids with the needed degrees in psychology, art therapy, and counseling. I want to give them the opportunities I didn’t have as a child or a teen.

Currently, I am incarcerated as a convicted felon. The staff at my facility and some of my classmates are the biggest support I have. They are more supportive than I ever thought they would be which is a huge contributor to my motivation. I am doing great in my college classes and I’m doing well working with my classmates. Work with your classmates and support one another.

My second tip is despite our differences, we should socialize with each other and join clubs and other opportunities to get more involved in the college community. By socializing with other students at Highline not only do you get the opportunity to get to know people you would have normally never met before but it also gives you the chance to widen your view on what you can do with your college career.

Getting into clubs at Highline could help you figure out what you want to do, what your goals are and who you truly are as a student at Highline. These clubs could also affect the rest of your life when it comes to applying to jobs or what your beliefs and morals are later in life. The most impactful reason I think socializing and joining clubs in college is to make you feel more connected and make you feel like you belong here no matter who you are or where you’re from.

My third and last tip is even though we are from different cultures, there shouldn’t be any judgement or putting down others just because they aren’t from your culture. The more we put people down the harder it is for any of us to succeed in college or in life.

We need to be able to accept the differences in each other! Just like the fact that I’m being accepted even though I’m currently incarcerated and have been for the last three years.

I had this thought for the first time in over three years, “I may still have a chance to be accepted by people of this society without people basing their judgments based on others’ opinions of me.”

Some people in society have a heart to look past my justice involvement and get to know me for who I am. To look past the label that one community has put on me, isn’t going to be easy. That being said, I am so grateful that those of you at Highline who I’ve met have given me a second chance and I hope to have the chance to be accepted by more students I meet here at Highline.

I hope this helps you all.

Fe Hadley is a student at Highline.

Guest submissions from the campus community are encouraged.  Send your ideas and material to thunderword@highline.edu