ABSTRACT
The academy provides a lifetime career for some and a professional touching point for others. These external perspective narratives share the common thread of difference in career choice and reflect making difficult choices based on life context and passion. There is much to be learned from leaving the known of higher education and trying something different. The differing requirements for the variety of higher educational options are a social class system unto themselves: trade schools, two-year associate degree-granting institutions, four-year public institutions, four-year private institutions, and subject-specific institutions: ballet, photography, and fashion design. The requirements for each type of system match the access one is granted to social and cultural capital, and this social and cultural capital gives access to different social classes. The themes of family and stability were shared across all stories, and although stability was provided in various ways, there was a shared experience of steadiness as a result.
