As an aspiring college student, I expected college to be a new, interesting frontier to challenge me in ways that High School couldn't and finally have the chance to take part in a rigorous classroom environment. While this has proven to be somewhat true, I have found that college didn't really meet the expectations that I had of it when I was in High school. This may not be true for my later years of undergrad and grad schooling, but I found that college classes aren't really much faster than high school classes.
In my major specific classes such as math, physics and astronomy, I felt that the only reason we moved faster in comparison to high school classes was because there was a lack of busywork that is often present in high school classes. Having 3 tests per semester in high school was required and college didn't offer much of a change from that, averaging 3 midterms per semester. The grading system for these classes is also very similar to what I saw in high school. Tests don't make up as wide of a majority as I thought they would in some of my classes. This was especially present in physics, where they make up only 50% of my grade. This shocked me as I expected a lot of my grade to come from tests as opposed to participation, group work, or homework.
In terms of class enjoyment I like it a bit more than high school. The teachers are more likely to be enthusiastic about what they are teaching and that helps fuel class energy. This doesn't apply to all professors though so it is kind of hit-or-miss depending on which teachers you get and connect with you. I think that the ability to make friends in class is very dependent on how the class is taught as well. My STEM classes all have discussion periods, which allow group work and a social aspect to manifest in class which helps build social connection between students in class. Classes that don't have a discussion section often employ group work in general to introduce the social aspect. The downside to this is that professors make their own curriculum. This means that you could end up with no group work or discussion periods where you don't get the chance to connect with your fellow peers in class. This classroom experience is much different than I expected college to be. I knew that professors could be bad and good, but the social side of it was very shocking because my siblings and cousins that went to college before me didn't make friends in class but events outside of class.
I had no expectations going into CPSG and I was pleasantly surprised by the class. We didn't do as much service as I thought we would in our first semester and there was less work associated with the class than I expected. Outside of this aspect, I really liked Professors Merck and Holtz. Both of them are very enthusiastic about their work and teaching people what they know about it. This was a surprise because I had not one, but 2 amazing professors to teach me. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of lecture material but I expected it to be very similar to an environmental science class. This would include subjects like nutrient and water cycles as well as eutrophication and anthropogenic causes. This wasn't far off of the mark, but the inclusion of Geology was a welcomed surprise as it is an integral part of telling us about the part. I enjoy science as a subject in general and learning more about it was welcomed.
For excursions, I thought that we would have many more required service days to fulfill throughout the semester but the inclusion of field trips was very interesting to the course. The options of field trips to go on and the chance to learn many different things was welcomed. The availability was slightly concerning as you can only have so many people go on a certain field trip but the fact that field trips were held was a surprise altogether.
In terms of non-academic life on campus, I think that college didn't really turn out to be anything mind blowingly special. Something I realized is that when you live at college, it's your life, for better or for worse. If you don't have a car, you can't really go off campus and do something so the only taste of non-school activities come in the form of clubs. Clubs are the main escape from school life if you are living in a dorm. From my experience and what I've heard, clubs are a great way to experience new things in college and spice up your life. I also didn't realize how much my high school experiences would affect my image of college. Moving into more "freedom" in college didn't have any impact for me. In High school, my parents let me manage myself, so coming to college, there wasn't really a shock in being my own person because I had already been doing it for a long time. The biggest shock came in the dining hall food which I expected to close later and taste better but it is what it is. A disappointing aspect I faced were the dorms. There is a wide disparity between the quality of some dorms compared to other was mind boggling. In terms of advice to other students, the best advice I can give is time management. So many people I know suffer from not having enough time to do worksheets or procrastinating on homework that is lengthy. Good time management skills and office hours are the keys to success in a college environment. Overall, I think that college is definitely a step up from high school, but it isn't as big of a step as some might make it out to be.
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