Did high school, your previous education or work experience prepare you for college?

Whether my dismal grades in high school, or my academic excellence in the army, that positively affected my college success, either in whole or in part, is a matter of speculation—at best.  Early on, right out of high school, I purposed to avoid any higher education, mostly due to my special educational experience growing up.  As for the military, I excelled in Advanced Individual Training, not because I had too, but because I enjoyed what I was doing.  Many years later, and with a family to support, I would gravitate to necessity to find a balance in trucking to maintain a budget.  It would be a stretch of my imagination to find roots, in either experience, which echoes a hint of recognition to which college success is a kin.  No, I would have to point out that the recession was the great equalizer, removing my options and giving way to desperation.  Moreover, being a homeless full-time student is much more attractive than being homeless and unemployed.  Necessity is a powerful motivator, that without alternatives, pragmatic that I am, college offers a viable solution, albeit a gamble for the future, with some normality of financial stability, it is not hard to see why I, and many others, pursue a higher education.  For me, the choices were far and few between, and with the recession far from over, retooling for the future seemed a necessary and plausible path to undergo.  However, I would point out that I have found that my own advice to my children has made life as a student bearable, even enjoyable in classes that I otherwise would have never guessed I would take.  That advice is to have fun, laugh, and enjoy the experience.  In this way, the learning curve is not so steep, and the challenges not so difficult, and the rewards are that much more sweeter.  Admittedly, my experience in the army could be the catalyst for this mindset, wherein my efforts to be the best technician, were undoubtedly connected with my sense of adventure.  And so this adventure in the wonderful world of higher education is my journey, the path of choice, so I had better enjoy the trip for as long as I can.  In the not so distant future, academia will open up doors, through which I will either sprout wings and soar—or flop, relegated to being homeless and unemployed.