Just Keeping It Real

To All Incoming Freshmen

Before coming into college, I had people telling me a lot of different opinions of college. Most said it was the best time of their life. About half of them said the work was not hard because they were learning about information they are interested in. The other half said the work was difficult because of the amount of work and time management. Now that I am finishing up with my first semester of college I am realizing it is a mix of both. There is a lot of work that you are responsible to complete, but it is usually something you are interested in.

The key to being successful in college is definitely time management. With the amount of work that you receive at college, it is important to stay on top of everything. I am not going to sit here and tell you the basic, boring info such as: use a schedule, buy a calendar, etc… Those tips are useful, but I am sure you have already heard all of that before. I am here to tell you how it is, in a more laid back, realistic point of view.

I played sports throughout high school, so I knew how to manage my time for school work and practice. I do not play a sport in college, so I have a lot of free time. There are events almost every day for the students to attend and socialize at. There is the field-house and the wellness center for students to play basketball, walk/run the track, or lift weights. The catch is knowing when to use your time for fun and for work. I know sometimes I forgot I had an assignment or two after I got back from bingo and it was late at night. So it is just important to know how to use your time efficiently.

Coming into college, I never really wrote multiple drafts of papers. I usually just changed a few sentences in the original copy and called the new product a “final draft”. But now that I am nearing the end of my first semester of college, I realized how different writing assignments are. I had to write rough drafts and they seemed really good and could possibly be a final copy, but after doing in class peer reviews, I discovered errors and better ways to write the papers. At first, I hated the whole process of revising my work, but now I appreciate it.

My first semester in College Writing was how I expected it. Knowing I am not a strong writer, I did not expect great grades, but I knew I would not do terrible. I had a rough start with the first assignment. But as the semester went on, I began to write better. I can definitely write even better if I give myself enough time to write a well written paper. I usually hold off on assignments until a couple days before they are due. But overall, the first semester was not that bad. Everyone stresses how crazy college work is, but as long as you stay on top of it, you should be just fine.