Explore the World

Friend: hey how you doing?

Me: Did I ever tell you kids about my old days in the Dark Brotherhood

Grandkids: Grandma that never happened

High schoolers: please hear me.

DO NOT BASE YOUR COLLEGE PERFORMANCE ON HOW WELL YOU HANDLED HIGH SCHOOL.  They are two different worlds.  You will be okay.  College is different. College IS harder.  College also offers much more support and opportunities, such as the writing center or tutoring.  You also have more time.  

Why?  I took a year of a freshman class that taught us how to write college papers.  By the end of the year, I understood how to write a paper WAY better than either of the AP English and AP Literature classes I took  in high school.  

My brother is struggling because three years of high school can't teach him what one year of a basic college class can about writing papers.  Maybe high schools don't understand that teenagers COULD handle the class.  They are smart enough.  I kept getting Bs on my papers in AP English and I had no idea why.  Even in AP Literature (it was a little better, tho) I did not understand what I was doing wrong or how to structure my paper.  After only one trimester at college, I was getting As on all my papers because I understood exactly HOW to structure my papers.  

I wish I could have taken that college class even my FRESHMAN year of high school.  I wish my brother understood how to write papers, or that someone could show him like they showed me.   I'm frustrated watching a system fail a normally bright student and then blame it on him.