How Did High School Education Prepare Me for College?

Education is one of the most important assets in our lives in order to be successful in this world. In pre-school and kindergarten, children prepare for elementary school. Kids learn how to depend on teachers instead of their parents and work with friends. In elementary school, children work with larger groups of people and develop their minds in preparation for middle school. As students transition from middle school to high school, they become more independent and learn how to use their time wisely and work by themselves; all of these changes help prepare students for college. However, I became prepared for college the most in high school through academic programs such as taking advanced placement classes, listening to the advice from my art teacher, and developing smarter study habits to pursue my goals.

I was prepared for college by my high school guidance counselors, teachers, and even college students. Guidance counselors prepared numerous different college meetings with its school administers. Meetings usually consisted of useful information about each school’s admission, majors and minors, and helped students with financial aid and college applications. Getting college advice or help from my parents was somewhat difficult because they were not familiar with the process. Filling out applications and writing college essays frustrated me; however, my guidance counselor lent me a hand by showing me each step of the process of filling out college applications, registering SATs, and also providing different choices of schools based on my interests. Having a guidance counselor was a tremendous help to me because they had dealt with many seniors before, therefore they knew what I needed and had solutions to all my unanswered questions.

Another way that high school prepared me for college was through college-level courses such as advanced placement (AP) classes, senior composition classes, a mentorship class, and a post-secondary program. Advanced placement classes are college-level courses in which high school seniors study for a year with college materials and subjects, and take a college exam to receive credit for it. Not only do students save money and time but, they also experience college level academics. As a result, students become familiar with the college level course intensity and can prepare for post-secondary education. Another class that helped me a lot with preparing for college was senior composition class. Senior composition class allows seniors to write college level essays and develop college level writing skills. Essay topics are similar to college essay subjects, and use MLA format similar to what is used in collegiate English classes. Rather than asking for teacher grading, students exchange their papers for peer reviews. Students improve their studying skills by correcting mistakes without a teacher fixing it for them, and learn by helping each other. Mentorship class is for students who like to go out in the world, and get a firsthand experience by having an internship with professionals. This class helps students choose what major they would like to study in college. A post-secondary program is taught by post-secondary teachers in which, they “instruct students in a wide variety of academic and vocational subjects beyond the high school level. Most of these students are working toward a degree, but many others are studying for a certificate or certification to improve their knowledge or career skills. Postsecondary teachers include college and university faculty, postsecondary career and technical education teachers, and graduate teaching assistants” (Postsecondary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. ). The post-secondary program helps students to save money and time, and let students experience college courses in high school.

Finally, my advanced placement (AP) art teacher, Mrs. Maurer, inspired and encouraged me while I made my future decisions. Since I was little, my dream was to live my life by studying, learning, developing, and working with art. I knew that I wanted to go to an art college to become a professional artist and make my dreams come true. During my senior year, I took Advanced Placement Art and Advanced Placement Biology. Both of them were very challenging; however, AP art was the most challenging class for me. It required much time management, self-motivation, and creativity for art pieces. I sometimes had trouble turning assignments in on time because of the time crunch. Since AP art class is a year-long class, based on a college level class, the class is organized as studio times, where students use that class to do their own work rather than a teacher telling them what to do. Unprepared for my first college class, I usually spent class time talking to classmates or figuring out what to do, and by time the due dates came around, I could not turn anything in or I just turned incomplete pieces and got low grades. My problem was procrastination; it left no time to critique and correct mistakes, causing low grades and low self-esteem. For the first semester, I failed to turn in assignments by their due dates, but Mrs. Maurer taught me how to manage the time schedule and inspired me in many different ways by showing me different styles of art pieces, and suggesting different techniques and medium. I was able to think outside of the box and expand my thinking process. Rather than a teacher forcing me or pushing me to get work done, I forced myself and increased my self-motivation to reach my goals.

Now I am in college, learning, and studying for my future and trying to reach my goals. Seven years of education in the United States prepared me well for college, but my high school programs were definitely the most useful and helpful. Recommendations, suggestions, and advice from guidance counselors, teachers, and upperclassmen helped me to make the right choice for college. Going through all of the college level topics, materials, and questions made it easier for me to understand how college classes are. Most importantly, Mrs. Maurer encouraged me to motivate myself, extend my thought process, and manage my time wisely. High school education prepared me for college with advanced placement classes, receiving advice from guidance counselors and teachers, and developing efficient study skills and time management.