What I wish I would’ve known: High school homework isn’t the same as college homework
href=”http://blogs.bgsu.edu/pieces/files/2012/09/klebe.jpg”>During high school I thought I knew all that I needed to know when it came to schoolwork.
I decided to take four AP classes my senior year of high school. I thought taking all these AP classes would help prepare me for the workload I was about to encounter at BGSU.
I was wrong.
I earned a low GPA my first semester of my freshman year at BGSU. I didn’t understand why my grades were suffering. One thing I never did in high school was read the textbooks. The teacher always taught us what was in the books, so what was the point in reading them?
I came to BGSU with that same mindset. I never read my textbooks my first semester, which was why my GPA was so low! I wish I was aware that professors here don’t teach you everything and that you may have to venture out on your own and teach yourself the material.
I’ve had a lot of professors put questions on their exams that they never mentioned in class, BUT it was in the textbook. I guess I can blame my high school for basically spoon-feeding me information instead of learning it myself.
Another thing that I wish I would have known is to never have your best friend as a roommate. My roommate and I were best friends until she started making choices that I did not agree with.
We currently aren’t quite friends and still room together, which makes it hard for me to live in my own room. I go home every weekend to avoid staying in the room with my roommate, so I guess I’m kind of lacking the weekend social life here at BGSU. I wish I would have known that no roommate is perfect and that you got to learn to cope with whatever roommate comes your way!
Another thing I wish I would have known before coming to college is time management. Time spent watching TV or relaxing with friends happens very little in college. During high school I would have time to watch a movie or go hang out with friends. When I came to BGSU I quickly learned that any time you have to do homework is precious time, and you shouldn’t waste that time watching TV. Instead you should use the time you have to start working on a project that’s due in a couple of weeks or studying for a test that is coming up.
Since I came to BGSU I have learned that growing up and becoming independent happens fast and that you have to be ready for whatever life may throw at you.