CF grads report easy adjustments to college

As the school year comes to a close, seniors are approached by all things college. Family dinners bring a few “what are you planning on studying for next year?”s, and E-mails fill up with advertisements from multiple universities. Some high school seniors feel as if their journey to college will be a piece of cake, but others fear for their well-being due to constant stereotypes that are often spread about college.

UNI freshman Hannah Gaffney said that in high school, she wished she knew that college was not exactly how it was described to her. “I definitely expected a giant amount of homework and studying because that’s what everyone told me college would be like,” Gaffney said. “But honestly, as long as you take a good balance of classes, it’s not that bad at all.”

Gaffney said that it is important to take classes that provide a workload perfect for  you. “If joining three clubs and taking 21 credits is your thing, then go for it,” she said. “But if not, that’s fine too. You have to do what works for you.”

Agreeing with Gaffney, Iowa State freshman Kayla Neese said she thinks that the basic daily schedule in college makes up for the workload. “In high school, you have class for multiple hours a day, every day,” Neese said. “In college, you might have one class in the morning, another class in the afternoon, and yet another class once every Thursday. The gaps between classes provide time to strategically plan out when you do homework, which makes it not nearly as difficult as people tell you.”

Aside from the amount of homework in college, a concern many high school seniors have is that they will not have friends as they enter a new school. Due to this dilemma, many people choose a college based off of the one their friends are going to.

“It’s important to go to the college that best suits you,” Neese said. “There are so many people in college and so many opportunities to make friends. Talk to people who are in the cafeteria, in the gym or even just sitting at the bus stop. Everyone is searching for new friends.”

Siding with Neese, Gaffney said she learned an important characteristic of college students. “It is not abnormal for random people to come up to you and ask to see your notes for the upcoming quiz,” Gaffney said. “You instantly become friends when you realize that you had no idea there was a quiz. You both frantically panic, but you get a brand new friend out of it.”

Despite multiple stressors that come with going to college, Neese and Gaffney both say they think that college is easier than many adults say.

“It really wasn’t worth stressing so heavily about,” Neese said.

Gaffney nodded, acknowledging Neese’s comment, and added to her statement.

“People put a lot of pressure on high schoolers with college looming in the distant future,” Gaffney said. “In the end, everything will work out, even if it seems impossible right now. All the stress of decisions and tests scores and scholarships and all the ‘lasts’ might build up and be overwhelming, but it will be OK. Everything will work out.”