If I could go back and do things differently in high school I definitely would have. I was one of those people who wanted to move on to college so badly that I wished away most of my high school days. I thought that college would be a lot more fun with having more freedom and to be able to pick out my own classes. Going to school for eight hours was something that I hated and I couldn’t wait to be able to go to class whenever I wanted to. I didn’t realize at the time that I was very wrong to wish that I was out of high school. Compared to college high school was so easy and fun. Now that I have two years of college under my belt I have learned things to do and not to do.
My first year of college I signed up for all of my hard classes because my advisor said to. She told me it would be a good idea to get the hard classes out of the way first. This was my number one mistake. I was completely overloaded with hard classes that I ended up doing really bad in one of them. I was taking anatomy 1 and 2, math 111, sociology, speech, and psychology. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for these classes. In high school I could study for a few hours top and I would get good grades, but in college it was so much different. I would study for hours on end for one test and I would just barely pass with a C. I also hated the fact that all the grades were based off of tests only. I was used to have other assignments to help out my grade, but now if I did badly on a test I wouldn’t have much more room for error. Also, in high school I was used to all my teachers knowing me and my family. This would help me out if I ever needed any extra help on homework or studying for a test. In college it was different, because I didn’t know any of the professors and instructors and they didn’t seem to care like my high school teachers were. I would advise all new freshmen to make their schedule the way they want to and not what someone else tells them. I would also suggest to new students not to take their hard classes their first year. This was my major mistake. I think it takes about a year to get the hang of studying for college level tests. If I would have known this then I could have saved time and money by not having to take a class over again.
Most college students want to move out as soon as they graduate, but I think it was the right decision for me to stay at home and commute to school. I know several people who live several minutes away from USI and they have their own apartments. This is a huge waste of money. I would advise any new student to save money in as many ways as they can. I again lost a lot of money by buying my text books from the bookstore. I would buy a book for full price and then go to class with some that bought the book for more than half the price less than me. Another way to save money is to not eat on campus. The food is expensive and not very good. I started taking my lunch with me and I saved about thirty dollars a week. With being a full time college student it is hard to find a job, so I would suggest finding a job that has flexible hours to help pay for tuition.
There are many things that I wish I could do over my first year of college. I would have made my own schedule the way I liked it and studied the right material for tests. I also wouldn’t have skipped so many classes my first year to sit outside and talk with friends. My college experience wasn’t all that bad, but I wish I would have known more of what I was getting myself into. I think I have grown so much in the past two years and it has made me a better person. I am now an experienced college student and I try to help give advice to any freshmen going into their first year. Looking back it would have helped if someone gave me advice about what college life would be like and so that I could be more successful.
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