Crisis for college freshman: How pressures are damaging youths entering college Senior year is a buzz of new media gossip, with most about the amazing hopes and joys about what college life is going to be like. Sadly most don’t have a clue about what they are being signed up for once those caps are thrown in the air. Every year student enters college with dangerous preconceptions of college and hailed with various struggles many crumble too. Various stresses accompanied by new found responsibility are thrown to the newly independent student who unable to handle begin to falter in grades and health. With the increasing relevance of college in media, more and more college life experiences have been dominating movie and social media. The “college is the best years of your life” slogan paints an easy going image in young adults that’s far from accurate. Studies since 2011 have shown that 52% of freshman claim having above average health, with 64 being compared to 1985(M.Lisa, Raymond, pg.16-25). Those that participated later said that the …show more content…
Knowing this I came that year prepared and did the best in my power and managed to increase my rank. However as my senior year passes no one talked about the college life besides “it’s going to be lit”. Had there been a convention or an increased awareness of the challenge than what we see in the media there might be chance to decrease these trends. If more open communication on how to handle situations I could see all the problems I had be almost non-existent. Most of we had a way of having college student being able to have one on one with new freshman having those with experience tell the new generation then many issues could be dealt . When you have an easy road half your life and then be thrown off the cliff you are going to die, so let’s have a rope to let those seeking it grab life by the string of
Glenn Altschuler addresses the difficulties and conundrums associated with entering college in his article “Adapting to College Life in an Era of Heightened Stress” He presents the experience of Kate Wilkinson and her feeling of unpreparedness for college. Glenn brings together statistical evidence to show how students are more stressed today than any time in the past. Glenn presents many solutions to decrease stress and uses Henry David Thoreau’s short story “Walden” as a basis of how stressed students should come back to a state of relaxation by meditating on what really matters in life.
The argument about if college is worth it or not has been one of the biggest arguments throughout the media for decades. Students suffer a lot from the debts that they get from college and also the amount of studying that they do in college and when they graduate they ask themselves “is graduation from college really worth all the money that we paid and all the work that we have done?”
Anxiety ran throughout my entire body the morning before my first class of college began. Not knowing what to expect of my professors, classmates, and campus scared me to death. I knew the comparison to senior year of high school and freshman year of college would be minute, but never did it occur to me how much more effort was need in college until that morning, of course. Effort wasn’t just needed inside of the classroom with homework and studying but also outside of it where we are encouraged to join clubs, get involved and find a job. Had I known the transformation would be so great, I’d have mentally prepared myself properly. It’s easy playing “grown-up” in high school when one doesn’t have to pay expensive tuitions, workout a
After my first few months of college, I realized I enjoy being a college student much more than I enjoyed being a high school student. However, the transition between the two extremely diverse worlds, was challenging at first, I found out how to overcome it. Originally, I couldn’t realize how different the two were, but as time went on, I was about to notice the differences. Not everyone is able to be aware of the many similarities and difference. Some differences include: cost, amount of freedom, and reasons why people are there. On the other hand, both high school and college have similar class structure and both require time management. The better prepared a student is to challenged with these many similarities and differences, the more
Freshman fifteen is the NEW EPIDEMIC!!.. or not? In the eyes of freshman, college can be seen as entering the lion’s den when transitioning from high school. Students routines, diets, and moods drastically change resulting in an imbalance of one’s well being. As a way to cope college freshman typically look towards food for a release. Therefore, this is where the term freshman fifteen was born. Freshman fifteen is the idea that in one’s first year of attending college, the student will gain fifteen pounds. On average students are gaining weight at an abnormal pace however, it is not exactly the amount that the media has portrayed.
In view of this “illness,” junior year also takes a toll on individuals. There is the ACT and the pressure to obtain a certain score to receive a scholarship or to be admitted into a dream school. As a matter of fact, the college application process is exhausting in itself. The stress seniors build up before they click
Walter Kirn successfully unearths some of the worst aspects of senior year. However, these reasonings are not sound enough to condone the discontinuation of it. Any issues found are the fault of the student or the school administration, not the grade level itself. Senior year is worth holding on to for both the persistence of learning and for solidifying relationships. Kirn mentions with pleasure his choice to leave high school early. Nonetheless the four year high school experience should not be demoralized by those who wish to value it for the irreplaceable opportunity it is.
“In a study entitled “The Lost Opportunity of Senior Year: Finding a Better Way," released in 2001, the commission found that for many students, that year "becomes party-time rather than a time to prepare for one of their most important life transitions. ... Many students reported 'ditching ' senior classes because the atmosphere encouraged them to consider senior year a farewell tour of adolescence and school." The commission also suggested that senioritis may, in fact, be most pervasive among the "best and the
By the time senior year starts, many students are already looking towards the future. Countless are sending in applications to colleges they wish to attend while others are closing in on jobs they wish to acquire once school is over. As senior year comes to an end, students have already had to make tough decisions that will potentially affect their lives permanently. No matter which path is chosen, it is clear that these decisions will help prepare the students for the real world.
...lusive evidence proves the academic suffers a college freshmen endures is, by all means, stressful. During the transitional stages from high school to college, a freshman student evolves from fresh greenhorn into a hardened emotional basket case. Once students fully adapt and get a grip on reality, college success becomes more evident and motivation soon increases. University life does not revolve around night life and social popularity. Most first semester freshmen cross the threshold of college with the wrong mentality, eventually becoming part of the drop out brigade. Other freshmen constantly fret about standards and high expectations set by their parents and academic programs. Excellent work ethic and time management will carry any motivated students to the heights of college success. Aristotle said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
Remember freshmen year: that infatuation with older students, and how being friends with a senior gave you immeasurable social status? There were some sophomores who didn’t tease us for being freshmen, and we clung to them. Remember walking in late to every class on the first day of school, and maybe the second... maybe the third... Every morning we rode the yellow school bus. Our first pep assembly was amazingly loud and we walked out half-deaf. The cheerleaders were trying to get us to shout something, alter we figured out it was "double-oh." Remember when our "commitment to graduation" banner was stolen out of the library? And that first last, day of school: promising to meet everyone again come September.
As freshman, we came home from school with the mentality that we were no longer children, but rather had entered into a new stage of life. Everything seemed different and new; we weren’t the big kids on campus anymore. We no longer were the persons being looked up to, but rather were the persons looking up to an entire school of older students. We remember joining our firsts clubs, going to dances, and having Orientation days.
Being in college, writers and directors make it seem so marvelous in the movies. With everybody singing and dancing, having a blast with their friends, going out every night, and living a stress free life. When in reality, it is like stepping onto a battlefield. You have to fight hard if you want to come back home safe and sound. When in college, students who believe they are smart and prepared survive. The students who are careless will fail, and some will merely cross the finish line missing a limb or two. It is important to know what category of students you fall into; your future depends on it. One way to classify college students is through their attitude towards school.
I was told all my life that your senior year is the most critical year of your high school career. Until my first day of senior year, August 25th, 2014, I didn’t realize how true that statement really was. As I walked through the lobby that morning, it didn’t take me long to realize that I would never see many of these people again after graduation. Although I knew the next 180 days would be very difficult, I knew that in the end it would all be worth it. When I received my diploma from Elkin High School on the evening of June 12th, 2015, I soon realized this would be the best day of my life.
Most of us would agree that college is one of the most exciting, yet most challenging times of our lives. It is typically our first time living away from home for an extended period of time. When I went away to college, I was eager to embrace the next chapter of my life because it was something life-changing that I had yet to experience. However, entering college was also scary for me because nobody handed me a “how to survive college” guidebook. I feel that everyone should be given a book full of tips and tricks that outline the ups and downs that lie ahead throughout our college experience, so that we can maximize our time in school and reach our full potential. That this why this anthology is important for all of us. This anthology summarizes some of the most important tips to survive college, that I have learned thus far as a current freshman about to finish my fall semester. No matter who you are or where you come from, these few, simple tips to be explained will help ease the transition from high school and living at home to college and living on your own. This topic is meaningful because I know how it feels to go off to college excited for the journey ahead, nervous to leave family and friends, and not knowing what to expect. This guidebook should help future freshman to succeed and make the most of their