Hailey Saarinen is a field organizer for the Democratic National Headquarters in downtown Dayton. She believes that finding your passion defines your future.
Saarinen began her college education at Sinclair Community College in 2008. She was enrolled in the University Parallel program and transferred to the Ohio State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
She said she had no idea which direction she wanted to go in when she first got to Sinclair.
“It is important to look at the marketability of your chosen course of study, but you also have to do what you love— and you don’t always know what that is right out of high school,” Saarinen said.
Although she was relieved to have general elective courses to fill out her schedule, she was most excited she had a wealth of options when choosing her classes.
“It was great because Sinclair was so inexpensive; I could take classes I didn’t necessarily need,” Saarinen said. “Because I had so many options, I was able to discover where I belonged.”
She said had she gone right to a four-year school, she would have ended up a business major and would have been absolutely miserable.
“If I didn’t have so much financial leeway with the courses I took, I may never have known about my intense passion for politics,” Saarinen said. “I would have even dropped out had I continued as a business major.”
Saarinen worked her way through college and qualified for a scholarship, so she left Sinclair free of debt. After she transferred to The Ohio State University she took advantage of low interest rate loans but was cautious not to borrow more than she needed.
“The loans available in school were more than I needed, so I didn’t accept everything that was offered,” Saarinen said. “Only taking what I really needed saved me around $28,000.”
Saarinen said it was sometimes difficult working part-time while attending Sinclair, but other students had it a lot worse. Whenever she thought about quitting her job and taking out a student loan, she would remember her fellow students.
“There was a lady in my American History class that had five children, worked part-time and went to Sinclair full-time. She was prepared and in class every single day.”
Saarinen said the memory of that student not only kept her working while she was at Sinclair, but got her through some really tough days at the Ohio State University.
“Sinclair exposed me to student diversity I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” Saarinen said. “It humbled me and inspired me to work hard.”