Every student has a goal that they are striving to achieve.

There are over 20,000 students enrolled at FC and among them are many that have returned to school after not being enrolled for various reasons.

Many students come to FC for the opportunity to grow and achieve their goals however there are students who came to FC for the opportunity to experience college.

Veronica Corner is a 44 years old student, who recently came back to school for the first time since being 18. After getting married and immigrating to America she had children of her own. Now Corner is working full time while taking classes at FC.

She is currently majoring in child development and her main focus is on children with behavioral issues such as delinquencies because she sees an issue in today’s school system.

She believes when a child is being found doing something wrong they are often labeled as “bad” and get separated from the group which is something that she is against. She hopes to influence policy in some way to end this kind of punishment for bad behavior.

After several years absent coming back to school again Corner has become well adjusted to school.

“It was not as bad as it would be because it has been so long that I haven’t been here and I always say my kids took my brain and all that… It is not as bad whereas I would have quit easier when I was younger… As I get older I don’t quit as easily,” stated Corner.

Ahmed Dehati is a man from Afghanistan who has been in the United States since 2017.

At the time he was living in Afghanistan, Dehati was working for the U.S. army. He received a document to migrate to the U.S. and he took the chance to come to a new country.

He enrolled at FC in 2018 and is currently studying to be a computer engineer. Besides school, he is working as a pharmacy technician and has two children. Dehati hopes that when he receives his degree he will find a good-paying job that will satisfy him.

Dehati recalled silly mistakes he made when first came to the U.S when everything to him was new and different. He previously had a job in Riverside which was over 10 miles away from where he lived and Dehati woke up every morning at 3 a.m. to bike himself to start his work at 5 a.m.; he later realized he could have taken the bus or train.

Tisha Anderson became a mother at a very young age while being heavily involved with drugs and alcohol which took alway most of her youth. 17 years ago she became clean and started rebuilding her life again.

A part of that rebuilding process for Anderson included achieving one of her dreams; getting a college education. After coming back to college Anderson remains humble and only focuses on her mission by not letting anything get in her way.

She’s looking forward to the pride of the accomplishment and not letting another dream get swept under the rug.

Anderson is a business student and is currently working full time while taking classes at FC. She has been at FC for four and a half years and she will receive her associate’s degree for transfer to California State University Fullerton next semester.

“I’m not allowing my head to say ‘well its too late, well you’re too old…’ Even though I am 49 and this is something most people do in their 20s,” stated Anderson.