Many students, especially incoming Freshpersons, operate under the assumption that their scholastic reputation in high school can be easily replicated in the college atmosphere without any changes in behavior, attitude, or input/output. This is not the case.
Sure, learning good study skills in high school will help them in college. Learning good time management skills will help them in college. Learning to reflect and think critically about the world around them will help them in college. Learning to treat their instructors and peers with the utmost respect – this will be very helpful, as well.
But the assumption that success is imminent because they made straight “A’s” in high school, or because they were allowed to turn work in late, or because they didn’t have to complete all of the assignments in a class to pass with an exceptional score, or because they missed a number of class meetings with no consequence to their grade, or because their parents stepped in to contest a grade – these assumptions are, in fact, fundamentally detrimental to a student’s success in college courses and the college culture at large.
These compound to create the overarching reason why enrollment drops so sharply after the first semester of every year. There is a gap in understanding concerning the fundamental differences between high school and college, because it is a growth experience that is unique to each individual and so cannot be easily defined. And the experience is not so much dependent on the facilities themselves -high schools and colleges- but the age at which it happens to the people attending. The students. This is a time of great change when, for most, their lives have consisted of far more security and comfort than that of the independent adult they are now expected to become.
Do students have to complete all assignments to pass a course in college? More often than not, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Must they attend faithfully, missing no more than three meetings per semester? Yes – in fact, many instructors at the college level will drop a student from the course for insufficient attendance after three absences. Being disrespectful to a peer or an instructor? Students have been dropped from a course for less, believe me. There are rarely participation grades. Extra credit is almost unheard of. Not turning in an assignment, for whatever reason, earns a zero. Can Mom and Dad get involved? No. There is an appeals process for students who believe they have been graded unfairly, and it takes a great deal of desire and paperwork, among other processes, to accomplish a grade change. This is a show of respect and due diligence by the university to both the student (who is an adult and thus trusted to make logical, adult decisions) and the professor (who the university would not continue to employ lest they trusted them to grade fairly).
There are many who will find these changes (among countless others) to be a brick wall, and their own inner will a similar construct – unflinching in the belief that what they know now is the only right way, not considering what they might possibly learn. These students may wallow in self-pity, blame their instructors for their failing grades, and drop out before they even catch a glimpse of spring semester. Some students attempt change, but perhaps realize they are changing in the wrong direction and switch majors, or colleges, or go out into the big, wide world to gain experience in something that interests them more. And then there are many that will adapt to college. They will find success through change and growth in a scholarly direction. They will become comfortable in this new skin, and they will flourish.
This is perhaps the hardest part about teaching at the university level as well. Professors are students for life, and teaching people -- a beautiful and complex array of people, spanning a vast range of ages, ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds -- that education is about more than getting a grade or a degree is sometimes counteracted by...well, life. Life and its daily, unavoidable struggles. We are desperately seeking to teach people to reflect on what they want out of life while not losing sight of the fact that other people and constructs exist in their world, and they must learn how to navigate those as well. It is also hard for the students though - new and unsure - and so educators are life-guides of a sort with a magnanimous responsibility to uphold with each forthcoming generation. We are stern because we are fearful for them. We are jolly because we are proud of who they are becoming. But we are never apathetic. We are always trying to impart crumbs of wisdom that we hope they may use to their advantage as they continue through life. We are never at odds with their success – we are always cheering for them.
