Andi Fluetsch, ’21, is a freshman at Woodland Community College in California and is majoring in psychology.

Q: What college are you going to and why?

A: I’m going to Woodland Community College in Woodland, California, but I’m transferring next semester to Sacramento City College then to Sacramento State. I’m transferring to Sac City because they have more class options than Woodland, and I’m going to Sac State because I want to go further than a bachelor’s in my field of study.

Q: Have you been attending college in person or online?

A: I’ve been entirely online, and I’ve never met any of my professors or peers, which is part of the reason I got a job tutoring English for the new semester. This was first due to COVID-19, but now I’m online because of the flexible schedule for my job. But, when I transfer to Sac City in the fall, I’ll take my classes in person.

Q: What’s your major?

A: I’m a psychology major, and I’ll be going for a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at Sac State. I don’t have a minor, but I’ll probably pick one up after I get my general education and required classes out of the way.

Q: What made you choose your major?

A: I’m just very interested in the subject. I’ve been going to therapy since I was 14, and it made me really appreciate the profession, and I’d like to make that same impact that my therapist had on me. I also enjoy talking to people, so I think it’ll be a good career path for me.

Q: Why did you choose to go to a community college over a university?

A: It’s a lot cheaper, and it gives you more time to decide what major you want to take. I had been trying to figure out if I wanted to do psychology as a science major or as an arts major, and community college gave me time to decide. While you don’t get the college experience with dorms and parties, I would recommend getting your required classes out of the way in two years and later transferring. That way you save money while still getting to go to a university.

Q: What classes are you taking?

A: Last semester I took chemistry, English, statistics and history. This semester, I’m taking Health and Ethnic studies, which is on race, creative writing and speech. Speech is a required class to transfer into Sac State. The problem with taking these classes online, though, was that I had to teach myself almost everything, and there weren’t even any lectures by the professors. That made my classes a lot more difficult, especially my chemistry class.

Q: What is your favorite class?

A: My English class last semester was pretty fun, and I liked all the stuff we read. We mostly read short stories before doing some theater and then poetry. I also enjoyed writing the short stories and poems my professor had us do, and he’ll be teaching my creative writing class next semester, so I’m happy about that.

Q: What is your least favorite class?

A: My history and chemistry classes tie. For chemistry, it was really hard to teach myself since I was online and they didn’t have any scheduled meetings where I could get help. But, my history teacher was the worst because he would assign two essays at once but would only read one, meaning you would have to do twice the work for nothing. I hated it.

Q: How do you spend your time when not in class?

A: I go on a lot of walks to get out in the open more, and I sew and knit as well. I also watch a lot of anime, and my favorite genres are comedy and action like “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” and “My Hero Academia.”

Q: Did Country Day prepare you well for college?

A: Definitely. It’s so crazy when you look at the difference between me and the other kids at my college because I’m the only one who knows how to write. That’s how I got a job tutoring students at my college in English because Country Day really emphasizes writing as something to teach their students. 

Q: Do you have any advice for the class of 2022?

A: I would say to definitely consider your options really carefully. I know having a big-name university seems really important, but look at what you’re going into for a career before you make those decisions. I’m not saying I can get into Stanford, but if I could, and I did psychology, what difference is it going to make for me as a therapist that I went to Stanford instead of Sac State? I think that’s just something that people don’t really think about, especially because Country Day almost makes a competition out of how many prestigious schools you can get into. I think it’s just important to remind people that you don’t have to go to the most expensive or prestigious option.

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— By Emily Cook