Essay by: Andrew Griffith 

I was definitely not prepared for what college was going to throw at me. The reason I started going to college was because I didn’t like the idea of staying at high school all day for my senior year. Therefore, I started a split schedule between high school and college. However, I was not ready for what was about to be thrown my way. I walked into class the first day thinking that the classes would be easy peasy, similar to most high school classes. I approached college classes with the same mindset I had towards high school classes. Turns out, I had to completely rework how I viewed school as a whole.  

          On the first day of college I didn’t know what to expect. All my life I’ve been able to not worry about my grades in high school classes. I’ve been able to maintain a pretty darn good gpa all my life. I had a system I followed and it helped me pass high school with mostly all As. I really didn’t worry about school much because my school didn’t push me hard enough. I honestly wish I had a more challenging high school experience. That all changed when I started dual enrollment at college. According to Raeleigh Hall’s “11 Ways College Will Absolutely Change Your Life”, she states that “Learning by doing has proven to be the most beneficial way of growing up.” In Raeleigh Hall’s article, it shows how much college can change how people view the world and their approach to daily life. The aspect of “learning by doing” is what helped me change my viewpoint towards college classes. My expectations about college changed from laid back to serious. Once I learned that I could no longer take the “easy way out” I decided I needed to step up my game. I started to put more effort into my assignments. I would stay up until midnight some nights, doing homework so I could function properly in class the next day. I started to pay more attention to detail and would take notes in class. I started to go to the study hall and ask tutors for help. I started to study at home and not wait until the last minute to finish assignments. Once I started changing my approach, I noticed my grades were starting to improve along with my mental health. College helped me do a full rework on my outlook.

 I learned that by actually doing what I needed to in a timely manner, it helped me in the long run. The new approach I developed showed me how much different my college experience is from my past high school experience. It’s a challenge to be held accountable and responsible for one’s own work. It’s a big change for me but I think I’II manage.  I was shoved straight into a new dynamic and I grew as a student because of it.

Work cited…. Hall, Raeleigh. “11 Ways College Will Absolutely Change Your Life.” Odyssey, 28 June 2017, ,https://www.theodysseyonline.com/11-ways-college-changes-your-life