Essay
I took many AP courses while in high school, and that experience helped prepare me for the rigor that college courses ask of students. I was, however, accustomed to the more lax grading policies of high school, which has been an adjustment. My grades in high school were largely balanced out through classwork that was really just busy work; in college, that busy work is practically nonexistant, and the bulk of my grade is determined through exams, which while important in high school, did not carry as much importance as they do in college.
I did not expect the large emphasis on the fossil record, as I had assumed the class would focus only on current or recent events and trends. I also did not expect there to be such a large emphasis on a multidiscipline approach to understanding climate and global change; when I have learned about these topics in the past they were covered through the lense of scientific logic and what essentially amounted to human screw-ups. The emphasis on defining science, research, and logical fallicies was very interesting and informative, and gave me more insight into how multi-faceted a problem can be.
As a commuter student in Scholars, the biggest shift for me was driving because I did not drive to and from high school. I have had to learn how to schedule my time not only around my homework and classwork, but also my commute. The structure of the classes is different; in high school classes were set five minutes apart and followed one after the other but in college classes can be hours apart, which is not very helpful to me as many of my study materials (laptop and textbooks) are kept at home and thus out of reach for when I am on campus. I also expected my classes to be closer together (distance-wise) and was not prepared to walk long distances in short spans of time.
Advise I would give to future SGC students would be to always be proactive when approaching homework so it is done ahead of the due date in case something comes up that throws your schedule off. It is also important to keep track of all due dates and exams in a planner, either electronic or paper. The brain of a college student is too tired and stressed to keep track of the important dates in four or more classes at once. It is also important to relax and take time to focus on mental and physical wellbeing to maintain overall health.