1.1 Who Are You, Really?

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand how college is different from high school in many ways.
  2. Develop a positive attitude about yourself as a college student.
  3. Accept responsibility for your college experience and your life.

Succeeding in college is rather like succeeding in life. It’s really much more about you than it is about college. So the most important place to start is to consider why you’re here, what matters to you, and what you expect to get out of it. Even if you have already thought about these questions, it’s good to reaffirm your commitment to your plan as we begin to consider what’s really involved in being a college student.

What’s Your Plan?

Take a few minutes and write down short answers to the questions in Activity 1. Be honest with yourself, and write down what you really feel. You are not writing for an instructor here—not what you think someone expects to hear—and you are not being graded on your answers!

 

Activity 1: Your College Plan

How long do you anticipate being in college?

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How many courses will you need to take per term to finish college in your planned time period?

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What do you anticipate will be the most difficult part of completing college?

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Are you confident you will be able to overcome any possible difficulties in completing college?

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Were you able to easily answer the questions in Activity 1? How confident do you feel about your plan?

These are important questions to think about for the simple reason that students who have a clear plan and who are prepared to overcome possible obstacles that may arise along the way are much more likely to succeed in college. In other words, just thinking in a positive way about your future can help that future come true!

Your Past Educational Experience

It is important to understand how college is different from high school and how well your own past educational experiences have prepared you for what you will find in college. This is another way in which entering college “with your eyes wide open” will prove beneficial.

College is a unique experience for all students—whether you just graduated from high school or are returning to education after years of working. You are transitioning from one form of education to another. Some students have difficulty because of the differences between college and high school.

Generally speaking, however, the college experience is usually different from high school in these ways:

  • Time management is more important in college because of varying class and work schedules and other time commitments.
  • College instructors seldom seek you out to offer extra help if you’re falling behind. You are on your own and expected to do the work, meet deadlines, and so on, without someone looking over your shoulder.
  • There may be no attendance policy for classes. You are expected to be mature enough to come to class without fear of penalties.
  • Many classes are large, making it easy to feel lost in a crowd.
  • Many instructors, especially in large classes, teach by lecture—which can be difficult for those whose high school teachers interacted a great deal with students.
  • College courses require more study time and require you to work on your own.
  • Your social and personal life in college may be less supervised. Younger students may experience a sudden increase in freedom to do what they want.
  • You will meet more people from more diverse backgrounds in college.
  • All of these differences, along with a change in living situation for many students, can lead to emotional changes—both positive and negative.

What does all this add up to? For some students, the sudden independence and freedom can lead in negative directions: sleeping late, skipping classes, missing deadlines, failing to study adequately for tests, and so on. Other students who are highly motivated and work hard in their classes may also have difficulty transitioning to the higher academic standards of college. Suddenly, you’re responsible for everything. That can be thrilling but also a challenge to get used to. All the chapters in this book will help you make this transition successfully.

Liking Yourself as a Student and Why That Matters

Of all the factors that affect how well one does in college, attitude is probably the single most important. A positive attitude leads to motivation, and someone who is strongly motivated to succeed can overcome obstacles that may occur.

In Chapter 2 “Staying Motivated, Organized, and On Track”, we’ll discuss things you can do to keep a positive attitude about college and stay motivated in your studies. But your attitude toward yourself as a student matters just as much. Now that you are in college, you are a new person, not just the same person who happens now to be a college student. What do you think of this new person?

If you’re feeling excited, enthusiastic, capable, and confident in your new life—great! Skip ahead to the next section. But if you’re less sure how well you’ll do in your new role, take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. A lot of new college students, once they begin experiencing the differences from high school, start having doubts. Some may start to feel “I’m not a good enough student” or “I can’t keep up with all this.” Some may become fearful or apathetic.

These feelings, while a perfectly natural response to a big change in one’s life, can hinder one’s motivation and ability to succeed. If you think you can’t make it, that might become true. If you’re sure you’ll make it, you will.

Again, we’ll ask you to think honestly about this. If you have these thoughts sometimes, why is that? Are you just reacting to a low grade on your first test? Are you just feeling this way because you see other students who look like they know what they’re doing and you’re feeling out of place? Most likely, if you have doubts about being able to do well, this is just a reaction to college being more difficult than what you’re used to. It’s mostly a matter of having the right skills for succeeding in college. This book will help you learn them—everything from how to study effectively, how to do better on tests, even how to read your textbooks more effectively.

Why is it that some students need to work on strengthening their skills after beginning college while others seem to waltz right in and do well from the start?

The answer sounds simple but is actually rather complex. There simply are many differences among people. There are differences among high schools as well as one’s past teachers, one’s peer group, one’s family, one’s cultural background, and many other factors. As a result of many different things, some students just need a little more help to succeed in college. No student is better or automatically more capable than another, however, and everyone can learn the skills to succeed.

Self-Management

To succeed in college, you need to take control of your life. Gone are the days when you could just “cruise” through school, or life, or let others motivate you or establish schedules to manage your time. This change presents an exciting opportunity. It’s your first step in your new life and the key to your future. Here are a few thoughts to get you started in the right direction:

  • Accept responsibility for your life. You are on equal footing with everyone else and have the same opportunities to succeed.
  • Decide what you want to do. Don’t let things just happen—make them happen by deciding that they should happen.
  • Realize you can change. You can change your habits to become a better student. You can change your attitudes and become a more positive, motivated student.
  • Develop a personal ethical code. Do what is right for you and for others. The college world demands ethical standards and rewards responsible, ethical behavior. Be proud of who you are and your good decisions.
  • Enjoy your life! Going to college might seem overwhelming at times, but no one is asking you to “give up your life” to succeed in college. Enjoy meeting new people, learning new things, and experiencing the diversity of the college experience. Most college graduates look back on their college years as one of the best periods in their whole lives!

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Key Takeaways

  • A college education provides many intangible benefits as well as much better prospects for a career you will enjoy.
  • Having a positive attitude can help you stay motivated to succeed in college.
  • Because college is a new and different life experience for most students, taking responsibility for new freedoms and managing time well are critical.

Checkpoint Exercises

  1. Which of the following are benefits of a college education?
    1. A better understanding of the world
    2. Developing problem-solving skills
    3. Meeting interesting people
    4. Making wiser financial decisions in the future
    5. All of the above
  2. How will obtaining a college education positively impact your future?

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  3. Life in college usually differs in many ways from one’s previous life in high school or in the workforce. What are the biggest changes you are experiencing now or anticipate experiencing this term?

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  4. For each of the following statements, circle T for true or F for false:

T F Attitude is one of the most important factors affecting college success.
T F If you sit back, wait patiently, and stick it out long enough, success in college will inevitably come to you.
T F To do well in college, you basically have to give up everything else in life for a while.
T F Most college graduates later look back on their college years as one of the best times in their lives.

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RaiderReady: Unmasking the Possibilities of College Success Copyright © 2018 by Texas Tech University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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