Dear High School Senior,
As you’re getting ready to graduate high school and thinking
about college there’s a few things you should know. Graduation day is something
you’ve always looked forward to since being a freshman but when it comes time
you’re not quite ready to leave. The future scares you because more times than
not you have no idea what you want to do with your life, and that’s completely
normal. When transitioning from the ways of high school and college you could
find yourself in a slump. The work and teaching methods become a lot more
different when you enter college. “The Transition to College Writing” says it
best. In high school you are assigned many reading assignments but more times
than not you get class time to read it and review. College is completely
different, you are expected to have read prior to class and be ready to
discuss. If you come to class unprepared you are usually just asked to leave.
They expect you to grow up and take responsibility. Also when coming to college
you aren’t given half as many second chances with your professors as you could
with teachers in high school. In high school your teachers often got on your
back and pushed you to turn in work even if it was late, in college they don’t.
When you get to college your professors do indeed care about you and your
success but they won’t force anything upon you. If you don’t turn in your
homework, you just won’t get a grade, if you don’t type a paper than you’ll get
a 0. They don’t give you time to turn it in late. You are expected to turn your
work in and if you don’t, you don’t. Since coming to college I’ve realized a
few changes that you just figure out as you go. When it comes to classes, they
don’t force you to come. You have to take responsibility for your learning and
education. If you don’t want to learn then that’s exactly how it will go. You
don’t have your mom and dad forcing you to go everyday. Also time and
prioritizing everything is much harder. In high school it was just the same
thing everyday. College is not like that. Between having class, and homework it
will seem like you have a lot more free time because you don’t have class 7hrs
a day. Although you think you have all this time, you don’t. Being a college
athlete, going to class, doing homework, and getting a good amount of sleep isn’t
that easy. You have to prioritize everything much more than you use to and that
can sometimes be hard. Yes high school
and college are very different but college is a great experience. It takes time
getting use to but you’ll catch on. This is the time to find yourself and see
what it is that you want to do, make the most of it.
Sincerely,
College Student