AKIRA

We have many students entering their freshmen year of college and are stressing about the thousands of papers that are going to be thrown at them. The fact that none of their friends are attending their college or even a few high school enemies will be, is probably adding to the anxiety. The point is that most teens have this preconceived idea about what college is like compared to what it really is. Regardless of what your high school teachers say, college can be a breeze. As a current college senior, I am here to lend a few pointers that I have picked up along the way.

The first myth that was blown to smithereens is that professors are hard-asses that will make you write a 20 page paper. FALSE. In my experience, I have written no more than five pages on a paper and I’m a Journalism major. Professors can pretty lenient with the grades, some will tell you right off the bat that they don’t like grading and if you do the work you will make an A. Majority of the professors that I had required attendance, which was 10 percent of my grade. That’s an easy jump from B to A or a drop from D to F. Not all professors require going to class, but keep in mind, they definitely remember the students that were there and tend to bump them if they recognize them.

The second point that teachers liked to point out was that college was nothing like high school. That’s true in a sense. If you stay on a campus dorm or off campus living, you are obviously getting more freedom than we you lived at home. As far as class load, the work is pretty damn easy. If you think about it, it’s just as hard or easy as high school was to you. If you did well in high school, you will most likely do well in college. You will hear adults tell you that an A in high school is a C in college, that’s not right. Your first two years of college are core classes, it’s LITERALLY the same exact topics you covered in high school. They are pretty much giving you a recap. Now, you do get into your major with one or two classes, but for the most part, its basics.Professors typically give you until the next class period or two class periods to get an assignment done, if not longer. In college, you choose your schedule. Most classes are offered twice a week on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. There will be a few offered M,W, and (F)riday. Needless to say, they give you a decent amount of time to get work done, more than enough time, it may even be tempting to procrastinate it. I highly advise against that though.

Another note that I’d like to make is the amount of resources that you have at your college. If you go on a college site, there is usually a section that says student resources and if you follow the links, it will tell you about the many advantages you will have at your school just for being a student. My school offers students to check-out DSLR cameras, recorders, and other film equipment, free of charge. Be mindful that if you damage anything, you will get charged for it and it’s not cheap. That’s the one thing they do NOT play with. There’s also a scholarship office, a building filled with different organizations and anything else you may think of. Investigate and ask questions.

Other students are good resources too. At college, everyone is pretty nice. They are willing to help each other and offer advice. The best way to start a conversation is to ask “Do you think this class will be hard/easy?” or something along those lines. That usually opens up the door to more conversation. GroupMe is also a life saver. Take the initiative to start it and let other students join, not TA’s or Professors.

Since, so many of you reading this know a pre-college student or are a high school teen yourself, pass this next tip on. Do NOT buy your books before classes start. Sometimes professors put “Required Reading” in red on the syllabus, but that’s because they have to, not because you actually need it. Wait until your classes start and attend the first one. That is the day, you will find out if you really need to purchase the book. Most professors know students are waiting on financial aid to buy the books, so they don’t expect you to have it until the second week. I have saved a lot of money doing this. A few classes will require online access to different softwares. Those same softwares offer two-week trials and all your work can be done until you the trials is over. Typically the math and foreign language courses will require software to do online work, so be prepared to drop over 100 dollars on that each. Chegg is a great website to get school books. IF the book is not on Chegg, try Amazon. It’s good on deals as well.

Hopefully all this information, can make the switch from high school to college a little better. The college series continues…