For high school seniors, the month of June is a time of celebration. As they cross the stage in caps and gowns to accept their diplomas, feelings of satisfaction, anticipation and nostalgia are intensified with the idea of moving on to college. As tassels are shifted from one side of their caps to the other, the ritual of the transition to college life begins.
There is a recurrent sentiment between many of these graduating high school seniors that could affect their college future: some are overly optimistic and confident in their ability to manage the challenges they will encounter.
Piper Puckett, a freshman attending UNC-Asheville, described how the first few weeks at college have been tough.
“[High school seniors] may feel that they are on top of their stuff now and that they have it all together and figured out, but it’s a humongous transition,” Puckett said. “It sometimes might make you sad, it might make you lonely, you might feel discouraged. I’ve had several days where I just kind of break down and I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m so irresponsible,’ but the most important thing to tell yourself during those times is that everyone is going through those transitions. Every single part of your life changes, and the people that were once there to hold your hand through certain things are not there anymore.”
According to the U.S. Census and American College Testing Program, an estimated 18 million students enrolled in college in 2008, and nearly 34 percent dropped out in the first year because they were overconfident, under-prepared and lacked realistic expectations about college.
Breanne DiBernard, a first-year student at- tending UNC-Wilmington, described the expectations she had before going into college and how they were met.
“Honestly, I went in blind; I had no idea what to expect,” DiBernard said. “I expected that I would make my friends and go to class and it would be easy my freshman year, but it wasn’t exactly what I expected. It’s not as easygoing as everyone makes it seem; some people are actually stressed out by college and others say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the best time of your life,’ and then you get there and it hits you like a brick in the face.”
Many colleges try to help new students set realistic expectations so their transitions are as successful as possible. Lily Neal, who is currently attending North Carolina State University, explained how there are programs available to help students meet each other.
“My favorite thing [about N.C. State] is all the opportunities to meet people,” Neal said.
“There are so many organizations and groups, and everyone is open to joining and wants to make friends. The thing I don’t like about it is that there are like 34,000 students this year, and it is hard to meet people in such a large environment.”
UNC-Chapel Hill freshman Sean King compared the workload in college to high school and the amount of free time he typically has.
“College is more work than high school,” King said. “I expected it to be hard; I didn’t think it would be that much more work than high school, but it is a lot more. There’s also a lot more freedom; I go to my classes, go eat, and there is a lot of down time. Time to study, go places, play sports or something before afternoon classes.”
However, not all students have as much free time as others. Appalachian State University student Kaitlyn Jones expressed how free time varies for students.
“I thought that I was going to have a lot more time, but in comparison to my roommate, I have a lot less since I have more classes,” Jones said. “She is taking five and I have nine, because I am a music major, so I’m in class a lot more than she is, and I also have to practice for three hours a day. So just depending on your major, it depends how much free time you have.”
N.C. State freshman Conner Leinbach offered advice for people who are going into college soon.
“The stuff that teachers tell you in high school is not wrong,” Leinbach said. “They tell you all that stuff about college and you might say, ‘Oh they’re just saying it to scare me,’ but they went to college too, and they know. You need to learn to take good notes and study on your own, and you have to be prepared to teach yourself an entire course, so make sure your study habits are good. It’s different because you’re not in class all day like in high school, and you have to be willing to put in hours of effort after class that will reflect on tests.”
– Briana Stone
