Kids all around the country are preparing to graduate from high school yet admittedly aren’t working as hard as they did during the first part of the year. These are the lame duck days. They’ve already gotten into college and short of an F in a subject, they don’t really have to worry about mundane matters like grades anymore, instead focusing on what’s coming – the college life!
But there is more to this transition from high school to college than parties and no curfews. It’s not just a next step in your academic life like going from 11th to 12th grade was. There are many issues you might not consider until you’re in the middle of them and unsure what to do next. This article will be the first in a series exploring some of these unexpected experiences in an attempt to get those of you who are college-bound thinking about what’s ahead before fall.
Differences Between High School and College
There are a number of differences between your experiences in high school and those in you’ll have in college. Some of these differences have to do with the underlying structure of each and how they operate.
High school is intended to be a teaching environment. According to the article "From High School to College" published on EducationHQ, in high school you’re expected to learn a bunch of facts so you can then be taught how to use those facts.
For example, you’re taught and tested on the rules of grammar and so you memorize the definitions of dangling participles and elliptical clauses, how to recognize and avoid using them. You can also provide example after example to fill up the space intended for your answer to, “Define the difference between a gerund and an infinitive.” After you’ve learned all these facts about grammar, you move into learning composition. At this point you are taught skills to help you use grammar appropriately and effectively
College is intended to be a learning environment. This means you will be expected to think. This may sound simplistic but you may find it harder than it seems. Not only will you be expected to learn a body of material by reading the text book and learning what’s covered in the lectures, but you will be expected to go beyond what you have been provided with. You will have to “think through” the material, learning to process the meaning and implications behind the basic content. You will also be expected to analyze what you come up with after thinking through the readings and lectures so you know how to apply what you have learned. In fact, many test questions in college are “application questions” asking you to apply a concept to a novel situation never discussed in class.
The Joy and Pain of Independence
Probably what many are looking forward to the most as far as college life is concerned is independence. No one telling you what to do or where to be when. This often sounds good until you realize you are suddenly responsible for more than just what time you decide to come home at night. You will have to learn to manage your time (a topic for a later article) so you can participate in extracurricular activities, take part in social events, complete your homework by the deadline, while leaving enough time to get the amount of sleep necessary to accomplish all of the above.
You may quickly find you feel pulled in many different directions simultaneously and will need to develop skills to set priorities in order to make appropriate decisions about how you will divide your time. At first, many new college students believe they can “do it all with time to spare” only to soon find out they can’t seem to do anything well. Setting priorities will help you to avoid this trap and allow you to do as much as possible in the time you have available.
It’s Normal to Feel Some Anxiety
Transitioning into college life from high school can be stressful as you anticipate all the changes you will be facing. Getting used to living with a stranger, navigating what may be a large campus instead of a single building, coping with not ending up with the schedule or classes you wanted, and balancing academic responsibilities with social temptations without your parents looking over your shoulder can be anxiety provoking for many new college students, according to an EducationHQ article titled "Best Way to Transition into College Life."
You may ask yourself, “What is wrong with me? I should be having fun.” Don’t despair. Remind yourself that you have just stepped into completely unfamiliar territory that is structured differently from high school with new kinds of expectations.
You’d be surprised to find out just how many of your fellow freshmen are feeling the same way you are. It’s just that no one shows it so everyone assumes everyone else is handling the transition just fine. Often it can help to talk about your fears and concerns with others going through the same thing, and it can be as helpful for them as for you, says the article. Realizing you are not alone in how you feel can go a long way to helping decrease the anxiety you are feeling and provide a social support network you can turn to when you feel stressed out.
The article goes on to suggest it can also help to talk to those who have already been through what you are going through now to find out what helped them during the tough times. Even in freshman classes there are often students from other years taking the class as an elective or prerequisite. While it may feel intimidating at first, try connecting with some of them. You already have something in common - you’re both taking the same class.
First try to engage them in conversation about the class: the readings, homework, professor, etc. From there you can discuss casual topics from outside the class room like where’s the best place to get a pizza or buy great clothes cheap. Once you have the basis of a relationship established, it won’t feel so scary to ask about their first year experience and solicit advice on how best to make it through in one piece.
Sources
- EducationHQ.org1. From High School to College. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- EducationHQ.org2. Best Way to Transition into College Life. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
Join the Conversation