Going to a small school, such as Gonzales High School with 750 students, has limited the opportunities of having clubs, sports, and academic course accessible to schools with a much larger population. GEAR UP, a program designed to help students academically, they offered field trips to colleges yearly and after school tutorials, if we ever need extra help. GEAR UP has provided me with answers to questions I have about college, I have also taken advantage of their tutoring and went for help on homework. AP classes introduced me to feeling how the college work would be like. My APUSH class was a challenge, consequently a completely different experience from any other class I have taken. I worked long hard hours on the assignments and studying
This past week SUU’s native American student association (NASA), hosted their 38th annual powwow. Our club, the SUU Polynesian club was invited to dance for thirty minutes between their activities and we happily accepted. After we danced we were invited to come back so that we could watch and experience the native American culture. I was surprised to see how similar their culture was to ours!
When I first came to college, I did not have a solid idea of what the experience would be like, but I was excited for this new chapter in my life. I enrolled in courses I though I would excel in but a couple of weeks into the quarter, I felt unprepared for the fast-paced courses that I seemed to be struggling in but that my peers seem to of been excelling in. Early on this cause me some hardships suddenly I did not feel that I was as smart or accomplished as they were. As a result of this my grades in my courses suffered early on. As time progressed, I became friends with a group of people who were also in my similar situation, they were first-generation college students, students, this great support network of students allowed me to gain more confidence in my academic ability and with the help of my lab work, I began to see that I could excel in college.
I would define my experience in Lone Star College as motivating and advancing. As a typical adolescent, I used to believe that community colleges were nothing compared to big universities. As soon as I graduated from high school, I started to apply to all universities I was interested in, even the ones that were located far from my hometown, Venezuela. I was neither considering to study a two-year degree nor considering to study in a small college. However, when I was about to start my career in Venezuela, due to social and economic crisis in the country, universities closed as protests arose, and there was no clue when they would open once again. It was when I realized I had to move from my country and explore new choices to get my degree. Suddenly, I found a small college, located in a nice sector in Texas, called Lone Star College-Montgomery (LSC-M), and my life extremely changed in several aspects.
My goal is to implement a similar program at the high school level where students are exposed to this level of support and companionship; all united in the same goal of helping each other succeed. It is also essential for students to witness what college is like before stepping inside for the first day of class. To see what college is like, and to experiment the environment goes a long way for students who are new to the experience. The Roaring Fork School District Pre-Collegiate Program is a prime example of what a stable source of support and assistance can do in the long run. This school district, located within Colorado’s western slope,
Attending college right after high school can be terrifying at times, but I found it is even more intimidating once you go back to school after being out for a few years. Self-discipline has to be trained all over again and the motivation to work hard has to be implemented daily to gain the successful grades each student wants to receive. As you continue to grow, you learn there are many ways to enhance your learning skills and become the most knowledgeable student you could only have imagined being. Using different approaches with the way you learn helps develop a good foundation for each student’s time while attending college. Becoming a well-rounded student takes time and an abundant amount of effort along with understanding your strengths and weaknesses in Life Factors, styles of learning and improving yourself as a critical thinker.
During the entirety of my high school career, I have pushed myself to take on more challenging courses such as AP U.S. History, AP Chemistry, AP Literature, as well as AP Calculus. These classes have helped me to form study habits which will be applied in college when the workload and expectations grow even more. In addition, I have also formed a small study group with two other girls who are taking all of the same rigorous classes as me and we get together on a regular basis to study for tests or complete difficult homework assignments. As a group, we are constantly challenging one another to think deeper and problem solve, which has helped me in other areas of school and life in general. I strongly believe that this group will push me to
College may be a great deal more challenging to most students when compared to high school. There are many different reasons for this. First, unlike high school, college is expensive. This means most students are required to have some sort of job throughout their college career. Not only must students manage time adequately to accommodate a full time learning schedule, but most are forced to do so while balancing at least a part time job. Next, college is much less structured than high school. In high school, student’s classes are arranged for them, students are not responsible for knowing the criteria for graduation, and class outlines are specific and presented in an easy step by step outline. This is not the case in college. College is a student’s first test of self-reliance. Students must arrange their own schedules and are responsible for knowing what classes are needed in order for them to graduate. They must learn to manage their own time effectively, as course outlines are broader, and require students to set their own priorities and balance responsibilities. Homework is not generally checked or grade...
High school, along with college are two major stepping stones in a person’s life. Many individuals are able to make the transitions from high school to college pretty easily, while there are others that find the transition into college to be somewhat challenging and hard to adjust to. When I made the jump from high school to college, I found that there are vast differences between the two, and both had very diverse environments. I found the key differences concerning high school and college to be the level of academic responsibilities, time management and scheduling, as well as the methods learning to be the main differences.
My freshman year of college, I had the opportunity to attend Alternative Spring Break in Ferguson/St. Louis, Missouri. That experience changed my life, I had the opportunity to work with students that were sophomores in high school and discussed how they can change their lives around. Many of the students would skip class and hang out in the hallways. But that week, the teacher stated that they had record breaking attendance. To this day, I am reading over these student’s applications as they prepare to embark on their journey to college.
Entering my freshman year of highschool, I was already in a program called RV Scholars. RV Scholars is a program that requires students to take advanced courses in order to exhibit their academic abilities. The summer prior to my freshmen year, we were required to take an introductory course to an AP class as well as a full health course that we would have taken during the school year otherwise. The program is beneficial since it provides a track of AP, honors level, and college prep courses that will be of advantage in the future.
While at community college, I went from fearing I would drop out to having confidence in my ability to perform well and deepen my knowledge within each and every class. What followed was that my sureness in myself made me desire to help others also develop their own confidence and wisdom. I ended up taking up the role of a tutor amongst my peers. Although this position was not official, I would work with other students on understanding difficult concepts, proof reading papers, brain storming project ideas, prepare for exams, etc. Not only did that help me sharpen up in school and challenge me to work harder, working with others helped me understand different learning strategies and person principles of others that drove them toward their dreams by way of education. Furthermore, I assisted in their learning while offering new perspectives that challenged them to understand their purpose and why education could help them move forward in life rather than college just being another thing that they had to
The past three years have been difficult, yet the most rewarding. During high school I foolishly squandered the opportunity a collegiate high school offers. I’ll always be grateful to Mr. Cass, a past teacher; for losing his temper and speaking the unspoken truths of our class’s reality. It gave me the wakeup call I desperately needed, and shed light to the depth of disservice I’d done myself. The fall of 2014, I started community college with a new-found respect for education. I worked diligently in my
I grew up in a poor family and college, for me, was an aspiration that often seemed out of reach. These past few months seem surreal and I keep imagining that I am going to wake up and realize that it has been a fantasy. I am so excited to be in school and that I have been given the opportunity to make my dream a reality. As I travel through the next few years at Colorado Christian University I want to work hard to attain the following goals maximize my learning experience, work hard to achieve an A or B in each class so that I can graduate with Cum Laude Honors.
For many students, starting college can be a stressful and overwhelming experience, mainly because most students have never had this much responsibility all at one time before and they are unsure of what to expect. Before coming to the University of Georgia, I was like most new students with many worries and fears about transitioning from high school to college. I was one of the few lucky ones that my experience at UGA was better than I could have dreamed!
I go to a rather small private school. I knew that to get into any college, you would need to be successful in academics. I have always tried to be prepared for that as best as possible. I accomplished becoming valedictorian. I have made A’s every year in high school. The first time dual-credit classes were offered at my school, I took them. I even made our school’s varsity basketball team.