College Education : High School College

High school students are constantly preparing themselves and thinking about their future after they graduate from high school. Most of them plan to attend one of the most expensive four-year colleges and have an extremely large goal to achieve in the future. On the other hand, a large number of students that are part of hard-working families that do not have enough money to support their child through college is just trying to finish high school so they can start working like their family has for generations. Those students are not necessarily less intelligent than the graduates that want to attend an expensive college but they actually may be the more intelligent ones because they will be taking a less expensive route and they will not have to wait another four years to begin their work. While others may plan to go straight to a four-year college or go straight to work, after high school I intend to go straight to a junior college then after two years transfer to Fresno State to get my teaching credentials and become a teacher in the future.

Early College High Schools (ECHS) are innovative high schools that allow students least likely to attend college an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and 60 college credit hours. Early College High Schools:

Another challenge first-generation students encounter is a part of their social life and the development of social skills. These students do not quite understand life on campus and feel that they do not have much in common with their more privileged peers. First-generation students view college differently than the other students attending college. They consider college as a serious responsibility and the only way to get a high-paying job. First-generation students tend to slip through the cracks at large institutions because they do not have social support or simply the knowledge of how a university may operate. They are much less likely to contest a professor’s grade or reach out for help when it is necessary because they feel anxious. They do not understand the need for networking, accessing campus resources, and the history of the campus. First-generation students have difficulty making or finding a community on campus that fits their personality mostly because they are having trouble finding out who they are. This makes them less likely to socialize with peers and take part in student organizations. There are some first-generation students who choose to live at

Over many years college has been known as a main path to success, yet many students find themselves being first-generation college student and face many challenges that come with it, despite the efforts colleges make to remove this stigma. “Thirty percent of higher ed students today are the first in their family to attend college, while 24 percent-4.5 million- are both first generation and low income” (Opidee, 2015, P.1). These percentages are very high, with 30% of students attending college being the first in their family many students and their families don’t know what they’re getting themselves into when they get to school. Students find that being a first-generation college students affects them even before they start college.

1. How would you describe the quality of your high school's educational resources (such as teachers, counselors, assistance with course selection and college admission planning, books, facilities, size and location)?

Some High School graduates may be unprepared for a college curriculum. This could be due to the fact that a high school education only focuses on the basics of academia. One can assume that this is why high school graduates are underprepared for the rigorous academic assignments they will have as a freshmen in college. This social issue may impact the high school graduates college experiences in a negative way. Being underprepared for college classes may lead to students dropping out of college, failing their classes, and emotional or psychological distress.

With an increased demand for skilled labors, many students nowadays find themselves needing to complete some form of higher education at college to ensure their success in the workplace and their future career goals. Although freshmen students often enter college with high expectations and ambitions, many eventually drop out of college. Why does that happen? In an ever-changing and more competitive environment, the demanding expectations on college students now soar at unprecedented heights, creating stressful and unpleasant experiences for many of them as they try to keep up with all the burdens inflicted upon them. In their writings, Dr. Christine B. Whelan, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alan Schwartz, and Nisha Ramachandran explore and illustrate some of the stress-creating challenges that freshmen struggle with today. Even though many factors contribute to the huge list of problems for first-year students, many of the problems that create stress for college freshmen fall under the categories of academic factors, (what adverb to add) teachers, and personal-life conflicts.

Jobs are harder to get and college seems to be increasing in cost, getting into college is a great step but it is up to the student to be focused and motivated to being successful or it would have been for nothing. A college education in this day and time can possibly raise the student’s chance of economic success in the future. There are facts stating an individuals with a bachelor’s degrees will most likely earn about 60 percent more than those with just a high school diploma, now a person with a high school diploma will earn about 40 percent more than high school dropouts. Knowing this fact will give a very strong incentive for students to want to attend college and to be more successful economically than others who are less educated.

The change between senior year of high school and freshman year of college is considered to be a substantial adjustment. Though most young adults are aware of the changes ahead of them, rarely do they receive the privilege to have a majority of these differences explained to them. Parsons successfully compares and contrasts the two types of schooling in such a way that the students will understand their new responsibilities but not feel overwhelmed or attacked. Keith reflects on this experience with freshman students, “I have had to tell these students that, unlike high school, they will not be sent to detention if they are found in the hall without a pass, and that they are free to leave if they are not interested,” (Parsons). Being new to the college environment, the students are either terrified to miss a class or become consumed within their newly found freedom due to their experience in secondary school.

Young adults experience a significant life transition when graduate from high school and enter college. During this transition, it may be the first time they are away from their friends and families. Additionally, it is a time where they have to learn how to live independently and become more self-sufficient. A common mindset in college is you have to receive exceptional grades as well as attain the best internship or work experience to succeed in life after college. This mindset causes a variety of academic, personal, work, and social pressure put upon college students. However, some individuals do not cope well with this type of pressure and feel overwhelmed. In some individuals, the overwhelming and anxious feeling does not go away and disrupts

​It’s June 20th, the caps have been thrown and graduation has come to an emotional close. The moment we’ve all been waiting for since the first day of senior year, the next step of our lives has finally arrived. In those moments of joy, the topic of next year comes about. College. Four years of uncharted territory and faces that you haven’t seen everyday for the past 11 years. A place where you won’t know all of the names of your fellow peers and a lot of them won’t know yours. In my opinion, I believe the biggest challenge of a senior going to college is the fear of being on two feet and fully responsible for their education, actions and future. In this larger world, we are going to classes and lectures that are supposed to help us with

“More than 28 percent said they frequently felt overwhelmed by all they had to do” when they started college (O'Shaughnessy). Even though freshman are consider young adults, living on their own can be a difficult task. The pressure of growing into an adult causes them to stress out emotionally and causes them to catch a feeling of being overwhelmed. When freshman get these feelings, it may cause some to drop out. As a freshman, I somewhat feel overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted due to academics and athletics. Once I graduated high school, I started college literally the next week; basically, I had to mature in one whole week. As of now, I feel more mature and less overwhelmed than I was last month. Overall, freshman who suffer from stress, exhaustion, and overwhelmingness contributes to the reason why freshman drop out after their first

Your High school education is supposed to prepare you for college. Do you feel your high school education prepared you for college? My high school education somewhat prepared me for college. The things high school taught me, I'm seeing again in college. In algebra and chemistry I'm seeing the same things I learned high school. High school didn't too much didn't too much teach me to be independent. In high school I was basically babied. So now going into college I have to change my habits of being babied. Being in high school taught me to be average. So how do I go about fixing it now?

Entering high school can be a drastic change from elementary school. There are many things being introduced to students such as schedule changes, class rotation, and a new curriculum. The jump from being at the top in elementary to being at the very bottom in high school can be intimidating. Although, students are taught many things in high school such as social skills, the importance of Indigenous people, they are not showed the importance of life and how to deal with it in the adult world. Students are not educated in how to handle debt, loans, taxes, and how to find a career. There are many factors that can prepare a student as they enter adulthood; essentially high school allows students to develop socialization skills, form a sense of national identity, and discover bureaucracies. Being taught these things will only help a student go so far in the future. Fortunately, students also learn about different cultures, peer pressure, and norms that should be followed. These things are not necessarily taught, but they are learned using a students’ own abilities and curiosities about life. High school does not prepare students for the future, in the sense that all students graduate knowing how to deal with situations in the real world.

Freshman year is an experience that some people look forward to and others do not want it to happen. Freshman year is the actual first time living away from home without your parents, the time being away from friends, and it's the first time a college student has control over their own learning experience and has the freedom to do whatever they want. Freshman year requires a lot of hard work and self discipline, but a lot of students do not have these traits yet because high school, for most students, is completely different than college. There are many factors that are involved with the helping the success of a freshman college student. Some of them the factors are social support, comfort within the college environment, self control, responsibility and positive self concept.