College Dropouts

Shakiyla Momoh
2/27/2013
English 1

Ready or Not?
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of college? Do you picture library study groups, dry endless lectures, or maybe a group of young adults tossing paper balls into cups filled with beer. Personally, I pictured the latter, and that’s exactly what I got. Sadly, my priorities were not in order, and with only months left in my second semester, I became what I despised most — a college dropout. Of course, being pretty pleased with myself, I did not see this as my fault. After all, I was still much smarter than my peers, and I had made what I thought was a grand effort in succeeding! How could someone like me who had done so well in high school and always pictured herself in college not be successful at it? The answer was clear ‘College just isn’t for everybody’, so I tucked my tail, returned home and never looked back. Three years and countless hours of thought later, I am back in school and realize my excuse was just that, an excuse. I was simply unprepared for all of the newfound challenges I had to face and I believe my story matches so many others, with 25% of freshmen dropping prematurely according to the ACT. The leading cause of collegiate attrition is a false expectation of what college life entails. Most freshmen, not unlike myself, show up for college unprepared socially, emotionally, and academically. To fix this growing problem, college prep resources need to be introduced starting from 9th grade and not 12th like many of us experience. We all show up on day 1 expecting our old high school on steroids, and get something very different in return. The newfound freedom on university campuses initially catches students off guard. You can now take your life into any direction you want, the question is which one? Looking back, my freshmen year in college (the first time around) is pretty much a blur. I spent the entire year either intoxicated, in a cloud of smoke or underneath my covers crying about how pitiful my grades were. Partying is the norm in college, or at least it was in Tallahassee, FL where I attended FAMU. And with many of the parties being thrown by campus Greeks or similar organizations, paying $10 to show up and be plied with free alcohol, almost feels like a demonstration of school spirit! Nothing matters more to a large university than school pride and we were all out to show we could hang with the best of them. But where is the line drawn between on campus behavior and off? For my friends and I, there was no line and we regularly strolled into class under the influence, if we showed up at all. We were viewed as the ‘cool freshmen’ because we mainly hung out with upperclassmen and we made a point to be present on every scene; Parties, Greek line reveals, modeling competitions (even I hated those.) Not even the tongue lashing I received over the Christmas break had any effect, I returned to ‘Fam’ well rested and ready to prove I could do both successfully; but I couldn’t. Ever more powerful than liquor, I was intoxicated off of an elixir called FREEDOM. The power to make my own decisions for the first time in my life had completely gone to my head, but I was feeling way too good to stop it. Eventually, school too got in the way of my freedom and my only solution was the worst possible, drop out.
Along with new freedoms, come new responsibilities. Another common thread among all college freshmen, this is often their first time off on their own. As children we all crave freedom and independence──until we have it. I’m sure I’m not the only student whose parent did everything for them their whole life, literally until the moment they dropped us off on campus. Not before handing me a packet of papers and forms that she gathered around campus that I ‘may have needed’, of course. No matter how responsible you think you are at the time, the absence of parental guidance leaves so much room for trouble to creep in. Suddenly, you are in control of yourself and you can do anything you want! And suddenly, there’s no one making sure you are up in time for class, no one driving you to class, and no one making sure you finish your homework before you go outside and play. This was the reality for me and it was a hard pill to swallow; even worse was the thought of TELLING anyone, including my mother, that I was not making it to class on time or frequently missing assignments for fear of being viewed as an irresponsible child. Talk about a catch 22! It seems my academic career was doomed from the start and I’m sure this rings true for many others. Chairman of the Higher Education Program at Syracuse University in New York sheds more light on the issue in his book Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Tinto explains “students devote so much time to the admissions process, they forget to focus on what lies ahead: challenging academics, living away from home, maintaining their finances, learning time management skills, and taking responsibility for their own lives.” The most important issue here is that high schools simply aren’t prepping students for college well enough. The Washington Times reports “Three out of four graduates aren’t fully prepared for college and likely need to take at least one remedial class.” This immediately strengthens the chance of students dropping with most remedial classes not even counting towards their degree. For many this means another roadblock and another $1000 being spent just to work up to college standards. For example, students enrolled in remedial reading had a 17% chance of completing a bachelor’s degree according to 2004 Education Department data. So in the end, students are being punished for their high school’s inadequacy? Not cool, America. It is unfair to force students to adapt to a new form of learning in 2 months after 12 years on previous conditioning. The gap between what’s taught in high school and college needs to be bridged if our students are expected to outrank our peers academically and economically on a global level. Another study done by Strong American Schools in 2008 reports nearly 80% of students in remedial class had a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher! Only further proving the disconnect between the two education structures. Eventually, reform will be necessary. While there are several reasons why more and more students are failing to rise to the challenge of college, I strongly believe students are just unaware of what all is expected of them. To combat this problem, it’s clear to me that our public high school systems need to be reevaluated and restructured; We are sending kids out to war with bows and arrows and we can no longer blame them for coming back home defeated. Many students face money issues and blame this solely for their leaving, but I find money to only be a factor in the decision. For example, when I needed to cover the rest of my tuition where financial aid fell short, I turned to scholarships. Even though I thought wasn’t smart enough or special enough or ‘in need’ enough, I was able to round up $5000 dollars in scholarships! It sounds cliché but if you look for it, there is tons of money out there. Plus there are tons of recurring scholarships which help out yearly because they know you’ll need it past your freshmen year. Of course the conditions for such usually require that stay on top of your studies and your grades don’t slip, and that is where the problem lies. Students often don’t realize at first that college is not the place for mistakes and second chances, they’ll both cost you. How you rebound from the problem is what separates you from the graduates and the drop outs. You can learn from your mistakes, and do everything in your power to better prepare yourself for the next semester. Or you can accept defeat, throw in the towel and say “Hey, college isn’t for everybody.”