High school never prepared me well for college. All seemed so easy that it did not teach me an essential way of handling difficult courses that college has to offer. Adding salt to injury, I also have no clue of moving through the required materials. High school course work was so easy that I never got to know the meaning of critical thinking or what it entailed.
This being so, I never got to learn how to manage my time and besides that, my parents and teacher were ever present controlling how my time was spent. Although this seemed to work at the moment, I was not the one pulling the strings and therefore still had no clue on my time management. The material in high school courses was so easy that I never had to spend time on it out
...side class later on. For example, if a teacher assigned a reading, it would be short and simple taking only a small time to get through. Ironically, many of us would not read by themselves mainly because the teacher would go through it in class.
Come examination time, the teacher would give out study guides that told us what would be on the test; on top of that answers to the study guide would also be provided. In actual sense, we never got to be given the chance and time to work on them by ourselves. On top of that, the test questions were so simple and shallow, mostly involving filling blank spaces or connecting words to their definition. None of these questions asked forced us to think critically about ideas or put them into real lif
situations, as compared to college, which does this so well. Managing time in high school was quite not a major issue on my side. In some instances, when a class began and we are not in class; the teacher would do the most unexpected, roaming around the whole school and playgrounds calling for us to attend class.
Even then after getting to class, we are required of us to complete assignment, supposed to be handed in the next day. The teachers make sure you start working on your assignment and have it half complete by the time you leave with it for home. Even this being the case, they would try directing you around the homework showing students where they might have slipped and gone wrong – not leaving the obvious fact that these assignments and homework were also quite easy and simple. Studies there actually involved zero critical thinking as this was done for you. Trouble stepped in college where doing assignments on time, and punctuality in class proved a high task for me.
This was quite depressing for me and I contemplated dropping out but the consequences were far much worse: My future would be ruined and I would be looked down upon by family and friends in equal measure. I did not develop the habit to study during my years in high school mainly because materials and assignment were made easy for me. I actually did not need to study to answer questions coming my way as they were quite basic. Whenever a burning question arose, I would go to the teacher and ask him; needless to say answers would be handed to me
directly. In another instance, teachers did not expect us students to understand the materials given to us in class; they would therefore give us exam guides which typically, had questions to the exams only in a brought in a twisted manner: this saw to it that we all get high grades.
How would I perform well in college while lacking the required good studying habits? In college, teachers would expect the very best of me, but ironically teachers in high school had it the other way around. High school had curved laziness and totally degraded my confidence. I regret every time I think about my past high school experience, it’s as if they were teaching me how not to gain knowledge and progress over time. I am really happy that I had the opportunity to attend college; it opened my mind and eyes to the real world, furthermore, it revealed to me what I was capable of by unlocking my full potential. For example, in my speech class, I learned how to become a leader and how to write a controversial speech that opposes other people ideas.
Moreover, I also got to learn how to write speeches directed at a particular audience; where I should critically think about their age, hobbies, thoughts, and interests. I really am astonished at the potential that was hidden in me for quite a long time. Now that I am aware of my capabilities, I will start working and polishing up my weak areas through the time I spend in college. Looking back sadly, I wish I had known capabilities lying dormant in me while in high school. I would have been
a better me and my mind would have been conscious of the real world at an earlier stage. A sad fact indeed, high school had nulled my learning skills and ideas.
Unforgivably, high school has raised me as a weak, dependent student. On top of that, it expects me to perform well in college, under the assumption that they have prepared me well for the level of difficulty of courses offered in college. I regret the fact they were soft on me and did not give me the write skills and determination to succeed in college, but from now henceforth, I will learn from the past and keep going on strong in life, eventually, I will gain the college level degree I wanted and proceed toward my goals.
