Adaptation during the Transition from High-School to a College - Essay Example

Transition from high-school to a college can be a traumatic experience. You are suddenly transported from a tension-free, care-free life to an entirely different environment where you have to find your way through at every step. Students gather from different parts of the world and bring with them different culture and habits. It is essential not to forget the roots and allow others to influence you. To have a smooth transition, to feel at home right from the beginning, it is advisable to formulate a student survival guide. This guide demonstrates how a properly designed action plan can help a student surmount the problems as a fresher in college. While there are bound to be points of contact for student support and enquiries, it is essential to get a guide of the campus and the facilities available to students. I would start off by getting to know about the college where I would be spending the next few years of my life. Since the best place to be alone is the library, I would start with familiarizing myself with the facilities available at the college library. A library offers much more than books, which includes online databases, online journals needed for research papers, audio and videos, CDs and DVDs, and other multimedia learning materials (Arete, 2006). Sitting in the library it is also possible to avail of the online tutorials on various subjects. The library guide would help familiarize with the facilities available at the college library. Libraries are also the internet accessible points and it would help to have an understanding of how to conduct searches on the internet. I would also checkout if there is student email service provided by the college. Undergraduate library can be used for much of the work in the first two years. Hence it would help to subscribe to RSS Feeds and join discussions groups and newsgroups. In fact the library would be the quietest and best place to be when one wants to be on own. One can even go in for introspection and reflection in the library. Upholding academic honesty is a basic prerequisite for which every student should be prepared. It is vital for sustenance and advancement of any educational community (UAH, 2003). Students come together and are engaged in active and honest search for knowledge. The roots matter here because the roots form the basis of the character and integrity of any student. Each student is a contributor towards enhancement of knowledge and hence learning, teaching, research, service and all other academic activities should focus on the search for truth. The faculty too has a unique role in the education process and is responsible for defining, encouraging, fostering and upholding the highest academic honesty. Cheating and plagiarism must be avoided (UMass, 2002). Even during research, any ideas incorporated or paraphrased should be properly cited. It would also be prudent to report dishonesty by any student to the school authorities, not with the intention of malice but to ensure it is not repeated again in future. The purpose of being at the college is to enhance knowledge through the right path. Effective study skills need to be developed to make the most of the time and the opportunity. The success and failure in academics is largely dependent on study skills rather than on intellectual ability (Norris, 2001). This first requires the right state of mind and a positive attitude in life. Stress and tensions can only keep one away from study and to destress or rather not to stress at all, it would help to undertake regular physical workouts, long walks, breathing exercises and adequate sleep. The mind has to be told to understand and accept the study material in right earnest. Effective study requires time management. This requires planning ahead and drawing out a weekly schedule. A general guideline for time spent on studying is about two hours of study time for every hour of class (Purdue, 2006). The time spent of different classes and subjects could vary. It is essential to develop good study habits and reading skills. A checklist would help ensure that I am able to stick to the schedule of study that has been drawn up by me. Moreover, this would be a self-imposed discipline and I alone would be responsible for the outcome. Textbook reading is an important part of study but I would supplement it with lecture notes. Taking the lecture notes itself is a skill. I would not take down every word spoken but only the outline so that I apply my mind and remember what has been discussed (Norris, 2001). In this case I would be able to present the subject in my own words which demonstrates a right understanding of the subject. For additional matter I would refer to the library for books or online materials or presentations on the subject. This would greatly enhance the work. A review helps to brush it up and this would be possible if I am a member of the study group. Attending to mistakes, understanding why the mistake occurred, and then correcting it, would build self-confidence and also help avoiding the same mistake again. This is a part of the learning process. Time management is imperative to the success of any schedule. Prioritizing helps to use time wisely. Goal setting is essential in life because it shows where we are heading in life. Once we know what we want to achieve, we can direct our efforts in that direction. Distractions can be identified and kept away from. If the goals have been properly set, they can be motivating too (Mindtools, 2007). Once a person experiences success in setting and achieving goals, it would boost his self-confidence. If the goals have been set, one can focus on the knowledge to be attained. The process of goal setting itself requires introspection to understand what we want from life. This calls for an analysis on strengths and weaknesses, time management skills, study habits, the area in which one wants to specialize and the biggest fears that could hinder progress (Collegecountdown, 2005). This analysis would also help determine how organized I am as a person. Once this analysis has been done it would be easy to set my goals. Each goal would carry the objective and the action plan. I would know the areas where I need to concentrate than others; I would be able to allocate time according to the requirement thus assessed. Once the goals have been set, they may have to be reorganized according to priority. Along with this risk planning is also required. A timeline for each goal is important because the time frame would keep me motivated to work on achieving the goals as per schedule. Once I have made up the master plan I would get a close friend for a feedback. I should also be prepared for unforeseen circumstances. I may take less time for something than scheduled or something new may catch my attention and interest. These would have to be taken in stride but if I am prepared for it, it would be easier to handle. In nutshell, drawing up a survival guide is meant to sustain change – change in environment, in the people around, change in subjects, attitude and culture. Adaptation to change is important for survival but knowledge should and can be attained with integrity, honesty, with the right study skills, effective time management and setting goals. Having prepared this survival guide has already increased my self-confidence and I feel equipped to face the challenges that the new environment would pose. References: Arete (2006), The Student Survival Manual, Arete Development, 08 Juky 2007 Collegecountdown (2005), Goooooaaal! 08 July 2007 Mindtools (2007), Personal Goal Setting, 08 July 2007 Norris, N., (2001), Study Skills, 08 July 2007 Purdue (2006), Student Survival Guide, Purdue University, 08 July 2007 UAH (2003), Academic Integrity, 08 July 2007 UMass (2002), Academic Honesty, 08 July 2007 Read More