Comparing Eduardo And Maria's The Transition To College

"Each fall more than 3 million high school graduates begin their studies at more than 4,000 American colleges"(Pg.2), some people are able to adjust and some aren't, but what is the best way to enhance your college readiness? The transition can be very tedious for most people, if you attended College, how long did it take you to become comfortable in your studies? In the book, “The Transition to College Writing,” it references the two main characters Eduardo and Maria, in regards to their similarities and differences of lifestyle, cultural, ethnicity, and life experiences relating to their high school and college educational experiences as students.

Eduardo was raised in a dangerous, impoverished, urban area by a single mother, and Maria came from a two parent, wealthy middle-class family. The difference in their education was that Eduardo attended public high school and Maria went to a private school. Eduardo’s mother was not well educated and communicated with her children in her native language, Spanish. Also, when attending college, Eduardo was listed as a “disadvantaged minority” student. Maria, being raised in a wealthy family, was able to attend a more prestigious high school, which taught her techniques to use in her college
studies.

In their high school experience, Eduardo attended a school that had a low high school graduation rate, and Maria attended a school designed to prepare students for competitive colleges and universities.
Eduardo's verbal test scores were low, and Maria's test scores were high, and her best subjects, with the best test scores, were science and math. Maria did well in her school's advanced placement courses; she was taught simple formulas and educational strategies, which prepared her for college. Eduardo didn't necessarily learn formulas, but learned some study skills to take with him as well. Although Eduardo attended a low end school, which had very little college prep classes, he still managed to graduate and attended
college.

The first semester in college ended, and Eduardo and Maria had different outcomes. Eduardo adapted to college with ease and finished with a 4.0 GPA. Maria struggled to maintain a C average. Even though Eduardo had a better grade than Maria, he studied less, and thus, was less stressed. Eduardo succeeded so well because he learned to enjoy learning, as well as time management; he treated college courses like college courses, and not like high school courses. Maria sticked to using all the formulas and skills she learned in high school and applied them to college. She soon realized that these formulas weren't going to work in college; she needed a new game plan. She adjusted after the first semester and learned how to manage her time properly, as well as skills she can apply to her studies. After their first year was over, Eduardo and Maria both ended up passing their classes with an "A" average.

In conclusion, Eduardo grew up with a single mother, who mainly spoke Spanish, and went to a low quality high school; he succeeded in college just fine. Maria grew up in a middle class family, and she went to a high class private school; even though she struggled at first, she ended up passing college as well. Even though Eduardo and Maria came from completely different backgrounds, they both ended up going to college and both becoming successful.