To My High School Teachers For Getting Me Through Freshman Year Of College

Since starting college in the fall of 2016, I have visited my high school three times. More specifically I visited a few teachers who a thought shaped the person I am today. I ran into several others, and was asked the same question by almost 15 different people: "Do you think our school prepared you for college?" To each of them I answered some deviation of "absolutely not," often with much more colorful language involved. So I write this in hopes that high school teachers will gloss through it and understand my reasoning for why (from a sheerly academic perspective) you have not at all prepared us for the road ahead.

My average work load in high school (including APs) was next to nothing. With a scattered math assignment loosely tossed in here and there and the occasional essay, teachers mostly just wanted to brush over all the course material in hopes it would seem familiar on the final exam. In turn they would tell us to expect much stricter regulation in college (tests) and the professors would not put up with excuses. None of this proved true. My average work load in college ranges anywhere from three short essays, a book to read, five math assignments, a lab, an actual essay, and a quiz, not to mention the countless hours of studying every week to triple that during finals week. Professors vigorously go over every spec of material in a very small area of study. Test scores very loosely correlate with the intelligence the professors see in you. And unlike in high school, if you put in an effort and talk with your professor, they will more often than not be there for you and help you save yourself. Something that seems entirely lost on high school teachers.

College is not "a whole other level" it is arguably easier and certainly more enjoyable than high school. Yes, the work load is much more intense, but at the end of the day its worth it because we actually understand the material. Professors care about what we learn and what they are teaching is there lives work. This is in no way meant to bash high school teachers it is meant to show high school students that college is not as difficult as you are being told and that being passionate in your work goes a long way.