Buckle up, this is your life

I am going to begin this blog post by saying “college is hard.” No matter how much we try to deny it, there was some serious hand holding in high school. We were basically given tests beforehand, we were guided through studying, we lived for the test, we learned for the test. Now, is it not true that the students who have been succeeding here are the ones who let go of that hand the fastest? The ones who realized that they are now, essentially, alone?

A perfect example of this occurred before the BIO227 exam that I am sure everyone has heard about. In this class, there were some serious “hand holders” and I have to admit I was one of them. The first day, Shona and I entered this room having just gone to 2 honors classes, one of them being this one. The lecture hall looked huge but we ran to the front of the room and sat down, being the good honors kids we are. Then we were forced to sit through 1 hour and 15 minutes of pure torture. I normally would preach about the phrase “there are no stupid questions,” but it seems I’ve been proven wrong. The professor put up a slide show with a background of the text book we are supposed to get. The next slide was the book that we shouldn’t get. The next one was the book that we shouldn’t get. Then the next was the one we should get. It was so simple it was almost painful. We thought everyone understood but we were so wrong. The rest of the class was filled with students asking “I have my sisters old book, can I use that one even though it’s the wrong book.” No. No you can’t. Let’s go through the slide show again.

In high school, we are handed a book and we don’t have to go look for it or find the best, cheapest way to get it. We are also not given study guides and little quizzes and tips and preparation guides when it comes to college exams. I will admit, I had no idea whatsoever (and I still don’t) know how to be studying for these exams. Then, there was (Insert name of friend here). This girls knows what she’s doing and was always so organized. She could quiz me on anything and excelled her learning to a level where she could have a conversation about it, not just regurgitate meaningless data. We would go to LA sessions and she would blow everyone away and when the day of the test came, it was no shock at all that she was one of the 6 who received 101%.

I had to wonder how she was learning so well and I realized it was because she let go of that hand so early on in her college career. She took initiative in her life and immediately got organized as soon as she could. I bet I am not the only one who wishes she could go to bed at night thinking about the assignment I get to do and without thinking about what I am forgetting. It’s come to the moment where I just need to sit down and let go of high school and realize…this is my life now, it’s time to take control of it.