Don't get me wrong, high school did a great job teaching me common core, and about why The Catcher in the Rye is bad, but I honestly still can't tell you how to balance my checkbook, or how to change a car tire. (In all honesty, I don't even know who to call if my car was in trouble, other than my dad.) These are pretty simple things, but as a college freshman I couldn't tell you that, and I have checked the course catalog there isn't a class in things you should know before you get to college.
1. How To Learn.
High school was about studying to the test, memorizing to pass the test, it was all about that would be on that test. I never learned how to actually learn, how to take information and stick it in my brain. In high school, I would know information till the test and it would disappear, this is to no fault of my teachers, just a fault of the school system. I'm sure they would love to hear I still know what year New York became a state, but I left that at the door of my Junior history class.
2. How To Highlight A Book.
When I got my books for college, I was so excited, till I learned how heavy they are. (Thanks Rocky for never letting me carry a backpack full of books, you are the real MVP) And then I got home a realized I had no idea what to do with these books, sure I had annotated Frankenstein ( and got an A) but I didn't know what to highlight, what chapters to read, what did I do with this book?? So I took to Pinterest, but that one article that I read really didn't do it justice. It was a lot of trial and error, mainly error, but I still can't tell you if what I am doing is right, I never had experience reading from a text book until college, it would have saved me a few test grades if I would have experienced that in high school were its a little more forgiving.
3. Sex.
Disclaimer: this one isn't just a college experience, it is more life. My mom did a great job explaining sex and protection to me, but I grew up in town that was conservative. I went to a school that said the best way to not get pregnant and not get an STD is to not to have sex, while this is very scientifically correct, its not very accurate. It never occurred to me that sex is actually talked about a lot. Sex is casual, sex is normal, you don't have to be in love with that person to have sex, you can do it for pleasure. Losing your virginity isn't as big as deal as they make it out to be, you won't really wake up a new person. It also, no matter how ready you think you are, will still affect you, its an emotional process not just physical. Maybe this was all in the textbook that I never read, but I think someone could have clued me in on this information.
4. Being Hungover.
I learned about how harmful alcohol is, but never once did I learn how to heal my body back to health, once again I learned by trial and error. I was told by the over 21 crowd to drink water before bed, don't drink coffee the next morning until you have rehydrated and eat WHEN you are drunk, don't wait until the next day to go to Taco Bell. Instead, I was learned just not to drink the alcohol, and how to say no.
5. The Outside World.
My little sheltered high school never taught me about the real world. Most of the kids that went there grew up in middle-class to upper-class families, had parents to buy them cars and support them. This made me naive, it was the minority to be on welfare, to not have parents to pay for college, or even just to have parents to talk to you.It was quite a surprise to me when I realized that some people didn't have this, that every one has a different background. Not everything is warm and fuzzy, but my high school had me believing this was minority, and charity cases, not that I was actually the minority.
6. Professors Aren't Scary.
In high school I was given the idea that professors are scary, they are mean and they won't help you. That unless you attend a small private college that you won't be helped at all, and your professors won't really care about you. Well I don't pay 50,000 dollars a year and I have met some great professors who honestly do care about success in some cases more than my high school teachers that I spent four years with.
7. How To Balance Homework, Life, Work And Your Sanity.
Aside from the fact that I spent 20+ hours a week on speech and debate, that's where my stress ended. The reason? I had multiple chances to make things up, projects were given to you a month in advance and if you failed a test, you could always spend your lunch doing corrects for half the points back. Unfortunately, that's not the case in college, you have a job, you will probably have three test you just found out about, a paper, and still try to find time to be social. High School never prepared me for the heavy workload, that college requires.
8. How To Exist Outside Of Your Own Little World.
I went to a pretty big high school, but I still spent four years with the same kids, in the same classes, doing the same things. Maybe it was the AP classes but I never had a lot of mixture in my classes, obviously the random button wasn't working correctly. This caused me to create structure, create a routine and college ruined that. I suddenly walked into a lecture hall and knew no one. This was quite a shock, because it never seemed to bother anyone that we lived in a bubble, it never bothered me until that bubble was popped.
9. People Aren't As Bad As You Think.
I don't know what happens from the May to August but those four months really do wonders for someone's kindness and compassion. If you need help more than likely someone will be there for you. Not all guys will rape you when you are drunk, and not all girls are out to stab you in the back. Its really actually a beautiful thing, people are actually decent humans.
10. No One Cares About Your H.S. GPA.
Really! I promise. You get into college which you could have done with a 3.8 and still gotten that full ride, think about it you could have spent one Wednesday night watching Netflix with your friends instead of copying the answers to the generic worksheet your teacher gave you off of the key website. No one will sit there and compare high school GPA's, not one professor will ask you if you were a straight A student. You are no longer categorized by your High School GPA. But I suggest saving that screenshot of your straight A's you'll need it when your poor and Krispy Kreme gives away donuts for As.