We love our high school glory days, right? The sound of medals clanging together as they hang from letterman jackets, the food that always seemed to smell the same and the never changing rut of your every day school schedule. We would sit in class and listen to our high school teachers tell us about what to look forward to when we got to college ... "The homework load will be unbearable," "They will not care if you fail," "You won't get away with sleeping in a college class." ... How long has it been since these high school instructors took an in-seat college course, because high school did not do a thing to prepare me for college.
1. The Homework Load
Although they were correct when they said it was "unbearable," but the homework is doable. With how college courses are set up, college students only have to focus on select courses a night, while in high school, they did not care. High school instructors felt no issue with giving a student a 100 questions worth of homework every night for every class, due at the beginning of class the next day, but also expecting us to participate in extra curricula's, get a job and sleep 8 hours a night. Were you trying to make us go mad?
2. I Look Ugly and No One Cares
We were always told "dress to impress." Are they high school instructors wrong? Well, no not really. It is important to dress for the occasion. But is sitting in a 4 hour lecture the occasion? Try telling that to the girl who spent all night studying or at work. In college, no one cares if you're wearing sweat pants. They do not care about what you put on your body as long as you can pass the test at the end of the semester, you are golden.
3. The Professors Actually Do Care
Contrary to what we have been told numerous times, our college instructors do care if we do not understand the information. In high school, we do not have the chance to give any kind of performance appraisal about our teachers, but in college "Rate My Professor" is a huge deal. Professors will care about what you have to say if you use your voice and let it be known that you are struggling in their class.
4. Asking Another Student For Help
In high school, if you leaned across your desk and asked the smart girl in class how she solved for X, you would get called out in front of the class within seconds. Our high school teachers would ask, "What's your question? I can help you if you just ask." We all know that our teacher means well, but some students learn better from being taught by other students. Students have a way of simplifying things down to where our minds can better grasp the material. In college, it is not uncommon to lean over and ask a question, ever. Does this mean the professor will stop and wait for you? Heck no. The professor will keep going. But at least you can learn a small section without the anxiety of explaining your question in front of an entire class.
5. Studying
Although we were given a ton of homework, we never actually had to study in high school. We could almost always go into a multiple choice test with the idea of, "Okay, I'll at least get a C+." College happened and that logic flew out the window real quick. We were never taught efficient study habits that work well with our learning styles. The idea of studying in high school was a joke. Seniors in high school becoming freshman at college will have no idea how difficult it will be for them to buckle down and figure out what study technique fits them.
6. Budgeting and Balancing
Out of all of the lectures we heard about how college is so much harder than high school, they left out the fun fact that we would be broke, hungry and desperate. The idea of balancing a budget was foreign to the most of us until we realized that mac and cheese for 7 nights straight was not the healthiest thing to do. We sit in our high school economics class learning about supply and demand curves, but after a semester in college, we blow through our savings like it is nothing. Now any event that says "Free Food," you'll find us there.
7. Depression, Anxiety and Mental Illnesses
I cannot say that we did not learn about any mental illnesses in high school. I know many high school students took psychology where we learned the basics of each. But what we did not know is that these things could happen to us. Moving away from home and being put in a new environment adds a lot of weight on a person to the point of withdrawing from student life. An anonymous student respondent from College Students Speak:
8. National and World Culture
Unfortunately in high school, we are extremely censored. We cannot discuss things such as sexual orientation, racism and anything related to political differences. We were taught to not discuss these things. Anytime a debate would occur in a high school class, the small seed was stepped on before a real discussion could blossom. In college, we will get points deducted for not being able to participate in debate topics such as abortion, legalization of marijuana and which president would best lead our country. The fact that we are not aware of the sides of these topics leaves us completely unaware for the real world and college discussions.
9. Healthy Relationships vs. Unhealthy Relationships
Of course we all went through the "high school sweetheart" stage, but that did not compare to the types of relationships we encountered in college. Domestic violence was just a phrase like any other when we entered the real world of college. In a study done by National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 53% of victims of domestic violence were abused by a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend. As young adults being thrown head first into the college life, we were not educated on how to go about situations such as rape, slipped drugs and abusive relationships. Educating someone about these issues can help prevent the rise of sexual assault in colleges.
10. Self-Teaching
Were you ever reading ahead in a chapter and your high school teacher saw you staring at your book and purposely called on you? Deliberately embarrassing you in front of the class for not "following along with the rest of the group." Since when is it a bad idea to push yourself and get ahead in class? In college, that is not a thing. Professors prefer that you do your best to get ahead in the class, which is why they give us a detailed syllabus with every chapter, assignment and paper that will be due within the entire semester. We were taught to stay with the group and not to self-motivate to be the best students we could possibly be.
Am I saying the high school did not teach us anything? Of course not. A lot of the information I learned in high school I still use on a daily basis. But I must admit, we could be doing a lot better in our school systems to better prepare our students. Is it going to be hard? Most definitely. It is not easy talking about mental illness, relationship violence, and being beyond poor. But I believe that administration in high schools should take a better look at what college is like now and what you are really preparing your students for.
