Attending college close to home is a smart decision. It’s convenient and practical. At least that’s what Perla Rocha, Midlands Tech grad and current Columbia College student, would say.

But she’d also tell you that college is a time when your world expands in exciting – and sometimes unexpected – ways.

What were your biggest considerations when choosing a college?

I would say location, cost, and support.

My house is 15 minutes from Midlands Tech and 15 minutes from Columbia College. Staying at home means I don’t waste an unnecessary 10 grand or more living on campus.

At Midlands Tech, I was also fortunate to have a mentor in my field of study. Her name is Holly Beard. She’s been a real inspiration to me, especially after I got off to a rough start.

Uh-oh. Tell us about that, and then tell us how you got on track.

I started off as a business major but quickly realized that business wasn’t for me! I remember one afternoon in particular, I just cried to my mom and told her I couldn’t do it, that the classes were too hard. She told me it would be okay and encouraged me to look at other majors.

It turned out that psychology was the perfect fit for me. I love to be the kind of person to give my friends comfortability so that they can talk about anything and relieve stress. I really enjoyed my Abnormal Psychology class, where we learned about depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD. It’s very interesting to see how those disorders work and how people cope and function with them. That knowledge will serve me well in my future career.

Also, with the psychology department’s mentorship program, I was able to meet with my mentor throughout the year. She helped me look at different colleges, find ones that had a good psychology program, and determine which courses I took at Midlands Tech would transfer over.

If I had stuck with the business route, my plan was to maybe get an entrepreneurship certificate and stop at two years. But now, I’ve successfully earned an associate’s degree in applied psychology, I’ll graduate from Columbia College in the spring with my bachelor’s, and then I’ll go on to get my master’s degree so I can do school counseling.

So by going to Midlands Tech, you found a future that better matches your talents and interests. How else did your time there open you up to new possibilities?

I had a lot of first-time experiences while I was a student there, especially when I went on a study-abroad trip to Barcelona. That was my first time going overseas... My first time on a plane... My first time on a train.... My first time traveling without my family.... I was able to see how another whole part of the world works. And my mentor was there with me, so it was a great bonding experience with her too.

I’m also a first-generation college student. My parents are both immigrants from Mexico who never graduated from high school, but they came here to give me and my siblings a better life. My older sister got a high school diploma and then went to Midlands Tech, so I kind of followed in her footsteps. We’ve both made it farther than our parents did, and I’m really proud of that. Seeing my family out in the crowd, yelling my name when I graduated, has been the biggest accomplishment of my life so far because I always want to live my life in a way that makes my parents proud.