After the cap and tassel, the fond memories, friends made (and unfortunately lost), enduring the ceremony with wrong or cords for graduation, endless graduation diploma from all of your family, everything will be over. You are left with a feeling of awkwardness; you know you should feel different, but you really do not. You did not grow up over night, no extra chest hair sprouted in, and you certainly did not gain all of the responsibility that most adults have already learned. In fact, nothing has really changed; if you have a job, you go to work. If you are going to college, you spend the summer fantasizing about how amazing moving out of the dreadful parents’ house will be and how much college will change you. After all, you are already prepared for college, right? You did make it all the way through high school and flourished.
However, the bitter reality is that even if you had an outstanding record in high school, scored well on your ACT’s or SAT’s, and have flourished in the carefully constructed environment of your family home, you may not do so well in college. This is why not getting cocky is key. The truth is, there are no guarantees in life, and you may become severely ill or physically wounded, or you could hit financial hardship and not be able to pay for school. We are not always prepared for what life has in store, but it is important to take it in stride and continue to put forth your best effort.
The academic aspect of college, which is why you are in college in the first place, is perhaps the most shocking aspect for incoming college freshman to handle. They are suddenly expected to spend their entire lives studying, and this can be a difficult adjustment. High school gives you the foundational knowledge you need, whereas college performance depends largely on how well you can manage your time and how well you can learn from textbooks and lectures. Not every high school is equal, so there are a few high schools with a rigorous curriculum that requires good study habits. Just as not all college courses are created equally; teaching style depends largely on the professor and their personal preferences, so some classes may be taught straight out of the textbooks through lectures, whereas some instructors assign essays and focus more on writing.
Grading varies from class to class, but typically, tests hold most or all of the weight. That is why it is important to maintain good study habits throughout the unit rather than just the night before a test; you cannot possibly expect to learn a whole unit in one night.
College success depends on how determined and focused you are on your studies. Although some things may come as a shock to you when you first arrive in your dorm room, with a lot of hard work (and brain power), you will prosper.