Some college, no degree: the Americans who find it impossible to graduate

They all begin college with hope, and leave without the credential they believed would shape the rest of their lives due to financial instability, family, illness

Story and photographs by Rachel Bujalski

Everyone knows the feeling of leaving something unfinished.

A half-written novel. A business idea scribbled into a notebook. A hobby abandoned after the excitement fades. In my own life as a documentary photographer, I’ve started countless projects that never fully materialized. Some stories lose momentum. Others wait years before revealing what they are really about.