To The Honor Roll High School Student Turned Average College Student:

You are not alone

In high school, things were so much easier. I never once studied or even worried about doing well on my tests because I didn’t have to. I was on the honor roll every year. Although I took a lot of advanced classes, I never struggled with keeping my grades up. In high school, a “B” was the worst grade I ever received and even that was rare.

In college, I study nearly every day. I didn’t even know how to study when I started college so learning how to study in the first place was a struggle. I spend so much time studying and reading over my notes again and again and it never seems to be enough. I now work 10 times as hard as I did in high school to maintain grades that I’m not always proud of. My first semester of college, I received my first ever “C” grade in a class. I was devastated. My parents always pushed me to get good grades in high school but it wasn’t that big of a deal because I didn’t have to work very hard for them. However, I felt like the biggest disappointment in the world bringing home a “C” on my first college grade report. It’s very discouraging to work so hard on something only to end up letting yourself down.

After beating myself up over my “bad grade” I realized that this one thing didn’t mean I wasn’t smart anymore. It didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to be able to do better next time. I also realized that getting upset over a bad grade (which isn’t even “bad”, it just isn’t what I was used to getting) wasn’t helping anyone. Letting a bad grade affect your confidence can make it even harder for you to keep working hard; so just remember that it happens to everyone.

College is different from high school in every possible way, including the way classes work. College requires a lot more work outside of class than high school does and it’s hard to get used to that at first. The work in itself can be a lot more difficult in college than it can be in high school. You’re paying a lot of money to be there and work hard and (eventually) graduate and make a life for yourself. A few bad grades throughout your college career will mean nothing once you reach graduation day.

So, it is important to remember that after all of the stress and anxiety settles down, one bad grade doesn’t define who you are and sometimes has nothing to do with your academic ability. Don’t let one grade keep you down or make you want to give up. The transition from high school to college is hard for everyone but once you get adjusted, everything will seem a little easier.

From,

An Honor Roll High School Student Turned Average College Student