High School vs College Life

High school vs College life
Education is considered as one of the important element in life nowadays. A child's education history starts as early as kindergarten period, up until high school. Enrolling oneself in college after graduating from high school is another option to gain higher education. High school and college are both educational grounds for a student to grow and enhance their lives with knowledge. The transition from high school to college can be exciting yet challenging. Both social and academic life in college will be remarkably different from high school. Some say student will either adjust to the new condition or struggle with it. Nevertheless, a well prepared student will be able to be successful in the long run when they know the differences in time management, personal freedom and studying skills applied in high school and college.
One of the noticeable differences of being in high school and college is dealing with time management. In high school, students are likely to follow the schedule set by the school department. Class, prep and revision sessions are well divided throughout the week and attendances in class are highly monitored by the students’ homeroom teacher. Therefore, high school students are less prone to waste their time on schooling days. Meanwhile, being in college indicates that students need to arrange their own schedule according to the academic courses taken by them. In average, college students spend less time in class rather than high school students. That is why college freshmen are suggested to seek consultation from the academic advisor in arranging their schedule. Time management may fluctuate but it is the key to success for both high school and college students once they learn how to be disciplined enough to follow their timetable. This point then leads us to hit the next domino in line.
Personal freedom, in terms of decision making also differs in both condition. When teenagers are in high school, parents are often there to stand between themselves and temptations. They still rely on the instructions from parents and teachers. Barriers from parents and school rules made decision making much easier, especially in throwing away bad habits. Meanwhile, college students are considered in many ways as an adult; wise enough to make the right choice for themselves. Unfortunately, most of them think that personal choice and responsibility comes in handy once parents are removed from the equation. They neglected the fact that what makes it challenging to be a college student is that students have to balance between academic and social life. Actually, all decision making are in their own hands and they are responsible for the consequences. However, they have to realize that being an adult does not mean you need to figure everything out by yourself. Gathering information about these and other decisions, and talking to parents, siblings, and friends can help in making these important decisions. Therefore, students need to think wisely before making decisions and jumping into conclusion.
Furthermore, there are distinct contrasts with the studying skills of a high school and college student. In high school, your teachers often follow the book closely and write on the board everything that needs to go in your notes. Teachers confer knowledge and facts, sometimes drawing direct connections and leading students through the thinking process by providing notes and handouts, which are often called as "spoon-feeding" session. Meanwhile in college, you will need to notes on what is said in class, not just what is written on the board plus notes on reading assignments that are never discussed in class. Often the content of classroom conversation is not in the book, but it may be on the exam. Besides that, professors expect you to think and synthesize lecture topics. After that, they expect you to think critically and be able to apply what you have learned in new situations or problems, not by just memorizing facts and then regurgitate them during the exam. These situations clearly show the differences of studying techniques applied in high school and college.
In a nut shell, there are three main differences that we could see in the life of a high school and college student. Students have to improvise the study techniques they picked up in high school and be more independent in college. College students have more personal freedom in making choices however each decision is important to ensure brighter future. Time management is a vital skill that needs to be mastered by all college students as their daily schedule differs greatly from their days in high school. As a brilliant student, one should be able to think wisely and adapt to his or her environment to ensure learning process can go on smoothly. For those who are still in the transition of being a high school student and college freshmen, you can try to take things slow, observe and learn from experience as you go.