High school was great. There are countless fun, awkward, rotten and reckless memories overtime to delight and cringe over forever. Now is the time where youth everywhere will begin the next phase of their adult life and enter college. Before the transition comes the time to break the tricks and habits that may have gotten you out of gym, but will not get you by at a community, four year public or private college. So hang up the school gear, shelve the yearbook and follow these tips and you’ll find your new institution of higher education to be almost easy as high school.
Procrastination. Asking a high schooler to meet a deadline is always a challenge for student and teacher. All the teacher wants is for the student to complete assignments on time. The students seem to interpret this as on their own time. Cramming last minute studying and essay write ups will always give you something to turn in, but the quality of work means more than anything in college. Work and study along the way towards the deadline and you’ll earn the grades you want and deserve.
Making excuses. Along with procrastinating and turning in average or less than work comes the excuses. Coming up with lousy reasoning as to why you really deserve a second chance at poor work or turning in missed assignments is comic to professors. Unless your excuse is legitimate, one has no luck telling tales to excuse their absence, laziness, or hangover.
Skipping class. The escape in high school usually results in a phone call home whether you wanted a longer break or decided to skip the entire day. Frequent absences are monitored and sometimes result with law intervention. The freedom students have in college to skip classes and go unnoticed is hard to handle and breaks many. A day in high school is a few in college. There may be nobody to fake sick to, but as an independent student you’ll only be fooling and hurting yourself.
Group slacking. The worst thing one can be during group work is to be that group member. Letting others do the hard work and picking up your slack may get the job done, as there will always be a group member to get work finished with or without help. Professors like to see how groups work as a unit, usually meaning presentations. This display helps instructors easily identify group members who know what they are talking about, and those who are the free rides.
High school sweetheart. The most exciting thing about college for many students is there newfound freedom and independence that was not always accessible at home and in high school. The final habit you want to break maybe for just a while is your high school sweet heart. Arriving to college, students will find a diverse new group of people that one will only naturally want to explore. To show up and not want to utilize the freedom and independence that college life entails is a promise waiting to be broken. Chances are your sweetheart over at the rival school is thinking the same thing.