Some more thoughts from Alumni

In the last week of school, I had a chance to talk with a lot of our alumni.  The first thing that struck me is that many of them talked about students who were unhappy at school during the first six weeks.  This is truly a normal reaction as many students wonder do they really belong at school, emotionally, socially and academically.  If you had strong connections in high school, it is sometimes hard the first couple of weeks at college because you do not have those connections yet.  The truth is that you forget how long it took to build your friendships in high school and just wonder why you do not have them in college.

My advice is always wait, give college time.  That almost everyone is feeling the same as you but that there are students who are better at hiding it than you are.  That it is natural to wonder do you belong but the fact of the matter is that once you do adjust you will do fine.  An alumni then told me that one of the problems was that our school put too much of an emphasis on college.  That we made college bigger than it really is.

I hope that I convey the message that the individual student is more important than the college.  I know that when our students get accepted to colleges, my first thought is how lucky these schools are to get such talented individuals.  That most of our students have figured out  how to make high school a great experience will have little problems getting that same great experience out of college.  That you define the college experience more than the college.

Alumni also talked about that the pace of the college class is sometimes faster than high school and that students need to be able to keep up the pace on their own.  That reading with understanding is important as the professor is likely not to cover all the material needed for you to be prepared for the papers or the exam you must take.  I am probably going to speed up the pace in the reading for macro in the first unit to see how that goes.

Another great piece of advice was that you need to go to college with an open mind.  That there are so many bright people with diverse views that you need to be open to what other people have to say.  That critical thinking really occurs when you can change your mind based on new information that was obtained.  This is often hard to do but an important part of college life as you continue to grow.

The take away, should be most people struggle at the start, and you should not be scared to be open about your struggles.  It is not a competition to see who is having the best college experience but rather important to express your true emotions.  If for what ever, reason you do not think the college is right for you that is fine because there are plenty of other choices.  Remember, failure is a way to grow not something that should be looked at negatively. That all your parents, friends and teachers want for you is that you are happy.