On Wednesday, January 9, five members of the Class of 2012 met with the entire class of 2013 to talk about the realities of college life. The five alumni hailed from an impressive array of schools: Boston College, College of Holy Cross, Emerson College, George Washington University, and Trinity College. They were quite honest about the various challenges of college life, from dealing with roommates to taking advantage of the great amount of "free" time at their disposal to participating in the life of the college.
The speakers repeated several themes. First, college's academic expectations are higher than they are in high school. More is expected in college. Second, individual initiative is a necessity. Academic classes requires more than just completing the assigned homework. Seeing a professor means accommodating their office hours. Third, getting involved in some way or another is key. Don't just sit in one's room. This does involve introducing oneself to strangers, especially at first, but it is more than worth it. Fourth, for most of them, the first days of college were hard, even traumatic, but to a person, they are delighted with where they are now. Fifth, they explicitly recommended that students should not take Calculus or Economics unless those were subjects of great interest. They are hard classes!The seniors were attentive and appreciative throughout the conversation. They asked a number of good questions and seemed really excited by the prospect of all college has to offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment