Paul Talia

Just a few years ago, Paul Talia said he was directionless and didn’t apply himself as a student. After enrolling at Triton College and earning an associate degree, Talia has transformed his life and will transfer to Georgetown University this fall to study finance.

Paul Talia of Elmwood Park feels like he has something to prove.

The 19-year-old Triton College graduate and aspiring investment banker is moving on from Triton as a determined student, hungry for the chance to grow academically. He’s not out to be the smartest person in the room, but rather to show his past self, and those who knew him, just how far he can go.

How’s that going so far? Talia thinks he’s off to a good start.

After earning an associate degree from Triton in the spring, Talia is transferring to Georgetown University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in finance. He will begin classes Aug. 27.

But his path wasn’t always so clear. According to Talia, the student he is today is a “far cry” from who he was just a few years ago in high school. Talia said he skated by, caring little about homework and never fully applying himself.

At 16, he lost a close friend. The pair were similar in personality and had both been somewhat directionless, he said. The tragedy prompted him to think seriously about his future.

“I realized that, like, I don’t want to go down that path, you know?” he said. “And maybe that had to happen in my life for me to make a big shift.”

He spent much of the rest of high school reflecting on what he wanted from life and where he wanted to go.

“For me, my path was a little different,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘I got to get the best grades because I want to go to a great school.’ I was thinking, ‘I have to be better than I was a few years ago. I got to make up for that.’

“I felt like I owed it to him to make up for those years that I wasted away, not doing the best that I could.”

That renewed sense of purpose followed Talia to Triton, where he saw community college as an opportunity to reinvent himself.

“I saw Triton College as a second chance,” he said.

Talia immersed himself in campus life, serving as president of Triton’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter and Accounting and Business Society, founding and leading the Stock Market Society and participating in the Scholars Program. Just as importantly, he surrounded himself with classmates who shared his drive to succeed.

“I think being an open book, and surrounding yourself by people who you think are just smarter than you, you don’t have to tell them,” Talia said. “I think we can learn something from each other.”

That environment helped Talia develop a confidence in himself that he said he lacked academically in high school.

“I learned to really carve my own path,” he said. “And I think that’s what everyone should do when they go to community college because no one knows who you are.”

From his first day at Triton, Talia knew his goal was to transfer to a four-year institution like Georgetown and earn a bachelor’s degree. It was a goal that had once seemed too ambitious after he felt he had underperformed in high school. He worried that saying it out loud to an advisor might invite incredulity or lectures on setting more “realistic” goals.

But no such thing happened, he said.

Instead, Talia felt encouraged and worked with Triton advisors to develop an academic path and transform his aspirations into achievable goals. He credits Triton’s faculty and staff, as well as the opportunities to get involved on campus, with helping him stay on course.

“I think they just have a genuine passion to help students get to the next step of their journey,” he said. “They just do such a great job, and they have such a passion at Triton that I haven’t found anywhere else yet.”

Talia also believes community college can be an excellent starting point for students who know exactly what they want to do — as well as those who are still figuring it out.

“If you have a goal and if you don’t have a goal, it’s a great option,” he said.

For students with a clear goal, Talia said community college provides an opportunity to develop academically and position themselves for future success. For those still exploring their options, he said, it provides an affordable environment to discover their interests without committing to the cost of a four-year institution.

“You get to pick what you learn about, which is also something I love because I don’t want to waste time learning about something that I have no interest in doing for the rest of my life,” he said.

Talia’s next step will take him nearly 700 miles from home to Washington, D.C., where he plans to study finance at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and pursue a career in investment banking.

Despite the distance and the significance of the transition, Talia said he feels more excited than nervous.

“I feel like the past two years at Triton has been preparing me really well for this leap,” he said. “And I think I’ve been almost like too prepared.”

Community colleges like Triton provide students with an affordable option for higher education while giving them the flexibility to explore career pathways and prepare for transfer to four-year institutions.

Classes for the fall semester begin August 24. Prospective students can enroll at triton.edu/admissions-aid/fall.html and explore Triton’s academic programs at triton.edu.

“There’s so much opportunity here. Students just need to look for it.”