On a Mission

Megan Cusick found her calling-and then found the right place to start her education.

Ask any high school senior what he or she is feeling when June rolls around, and the responses you'll get will range from "enthusiastic" to "hopeful," "excited," "thrilled," and the like. When Megan Cusick neared the end of her senior year at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in 2003, she felt overwhelmed. "Everyone was going to a four-year school," says the St. Paul native, who had also applied but didn't get into the colleges she wanted. "I didn't have a clue where I should be going to school; I didn't have a clue what I should be doing."

While casting about for a plan, she noticed a flyer posted at school advertising a volunteer trip to a mission in Guatemala. Despite not speaking Spanish and never having been in a foreign country, Cusick decided to take the plunge. From October 2003 through the end of January 2004, she taught English, worked on an organic farm, processed coffee, and assisted a doctor on visits in the village of San Lucas Toliman. Volunteering not only gave her a sense of worth, but a sense of direction. "I definitely figured out what I want to do when I was down there," she says. "I met an 11-year-old girl who had been abused and neglected, and we became really good friends. That helped me decide to work with abused and neglected kids."

Equal footing

Upon her return to the states, Cusick volunteered at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul to work with abused children to make sure it was what she wanted to do. The next step: go to school. She opted to attend Saint Paul College for the first two years and then transfer to a four-year liberal arts school to finish a degree in social work. "There are a lot of stereotypes of two year colleges," she says, "but if people can get over those, they'll realize that you can save a lot of money and get the same quality of education as you do at a four-year college."

She started at the College in fall of 2004 taking a full load of classes such as composition, math, and photography, which is another passion of hers. When talking to her friends who went straight into more expensive four-year schools, she realized that "we take the same classes-except they're paying $30,000 a year."

In short, Cusick figures she's gotten a quality education at a bargain. "I'll have to pay my dad back, I'll have loans, but they won't be forever," she says. "I saved from the start."

Besides saving money, she's also been able to take advantage of the College's flexible course offerings and schedule, which came in handy when she moved out of her parents' home this year and started working, necessitating a lighter class load. As a result, Cusick will have to finish a couple of special class requirements before she can finish at Saint Paul College and move on to the social work program at Metro State University, where she plans to finish her degree.

Jenny Sherman is a New York City-based freelance writer.

Learn more about our Liberal Arts and Sciences courses