To the Editor:

"At 2-Year Colleges, Students Eager but Unprepared" (front page, Sept. 2) could have been written about me. I hope that those struggling students take some heart from my experience.

I graduated from high school with a combined verbal and math SAT score of less than 800. Enrolling in junior college, I had to enroll in arithmetic and to relearn addition, subtraction and fractions. Although I took college-level English courses, I still had to go to the study skills center to keep up with the class.

Ultimately, I got through calculus with a grade of B and a tutor. I went on to complete two master’s degrees, and have held a well-paying job with the Florida Legislature for the last 20 years.

My advice to those students is to take heart and keep trying. Junior colleges work!

Linda Vaughn

Tallahassee, Fla., Sept. 6, 2006

—New York Times Letters to the Editor