Graduation Speech : College Experience Essay

Starting college as a Freshman is exciting; it is also unnerving. The comfort of everything I know is going to disappear and it will be time to grow up and face reality. However, reality isn’t doomed to be negative if I prepare for my future and

Seriously what am I doing in college? A month ago I would've said, I have no idea. College was something I absolutely dreaded. I’ve always hated school, I really never tried, so college was just something I pushed off. I honestly had no drive or motivation to attend, maybe because I had and still currently have no idea what I want to do.

The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.

“As many as one in three first-year students won't make it back for sophomore year” (“Freshmen retention rate”). It just so happened that I followed that statistic. Many colleges do not care much if students drop out or flunk out once their tuition checks have been cashed (Los Angeles Times).Growing up in a very strict household and attending private Catholic school, I was ready to spread my wings and fly. I was looking forward to that independence, my own rules and living on my own. I was enthusiastic to get started on my college journey. In my mind, I was about to live the dream. I would experience my own place to live, no rules, and get to hang out with friends! Oh, and college, too. I was not prepared to be so distracted

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

We can all recall that time between graduating high school and beginning our freshman year of college. For many people, myself included, going to college meant a chance to finally escape that small town that we called home. The summer began to come to a close, and we could hardly contain our excitement to finally start our new adventure. College began, classes and homework took over our lives, and we made new friends and experienced many memories with them. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, right? While most of my newfound classmates opted to go back to their home towns for the summer, I've decided to stay in my cozy college town, much to my parents disdain. It is wonderful, yet bittersweet to not have to go back to that boring

The thrill of moving out for college, the new profound independence that one encounters once they indulge themselves in the undergraduate experience is something I’m yet to experience. ASU recommends every Freshman to live on campus at least their first year of college and to join various clubs and organizations in order to fully enhance the undergraduate experience. Unfortunately, I couldn’t partake in that tradition, due to financial problems, I haven’t yet had the privilege of living on campus. Throughout my undergraduate career thus far, not living on campus has been a huge burden that often prevents me from being able to attend beneficial events that will help me in my future. If I’m selected into the McCord Scholars Program, it will greatly

Entering college is like walking into Dulles National Airport! Seeing many different nationalities and cultures come together as one and become united. It was my pleasure interviewing Taylor Dickerson a student, part of The Virginia State University class of 2020. Taylor, unlike myself is more familiar with the Richmond, Virginia area. Virginia State University was more like home to her and her family due to her being from this area. Within her immediate family she was the first to attend an university, but her parents chose another direction and entered the military. Being the first out of three children that her parents have, she was lucky enough to say goodbye to her troublesome siblings that she loves so dearly and sadden to tell her parents

"Tomorrow is the first day of what I will become." I wrote this in my diary the night before my first day of college. I was anxious as I imagined the stereotypical college room: intellectual students, in-depth discussions about neat stuff, and of course, a casual professor sporting the tweed jacket with leather elbows. I was also ill as I foresaw myself drowning in a murky pool of reading assignments and finals, hearing a deep, depressing voice ask "What can you do with your life?" Since then, I've settled comfortably into the college "scene" and have treated myself to the myth that I'll hear my calling someday, and that my future will introduce itself to me with a hardy handshake. I can't completely rid my

The transition into college can be one of the most exciting times in a young adult’s life. They are starting a new chapter in their lives that may have a lasting effect on their future. Many new friendships will be made, along with countless amounts of changes in their life including new habitat, change in income, workload amounts, and

Time passed really fast and it approached to the end of the Spring Quarter. When I looked back, I still thought I just finished my orientation. In this quarter, I experienced lots of new and difficult things in UCR, which made me reduce much concern. As a result, I was pretty appreciated with my first freshman quarter because it helped me improve my abilities in different areas.

It is the start of the students’ senior year in high school, where things are known to get real. That is the time where they prepare to graduate as well as get ready for college. Filling out a college application and writing an essay is the easy part, but deciding on whether to attend an HBCU or PWI is where things get difficult. Many students in the generation of the 21st century know nothing about the birth of an HBCU or PWI. Children now are making decisions based off of who is attending where, and how well or bad the parties are. Not only does knowing the environment of the college or University one chooses to attend important, but grasping a better understanding of the emergence of the two should also be included.

The essentials of reality gradually indicated my importance as a student. Approaching the terminal of my junior year in high school, I acknowledged the deficiency of my intentions not being focused on graduating. I had concluded the recognition of my intentions should be compelled to benefit academics. The available alternative was transferring to an online education system, which allowed me to graduate at my own pace. The allegation of my responsibilities helped achieve my initial graduation date. Opportunities passed on as the years moved aimlessly. Drifting away incompetent to the aspects of what my life may presume in future relations. I indicated neglect of comprehending priorities that would subsequently improve my performance. The act of being dissatisfied had settled deep into my soul and was distilled into my head. Like a parasite, it never went away and would not improve until the proper procedures were initiated. As I had visualized the purpose of my conduct affecting the future greater than the presence, apprehension of seriousness derived my expectations.

Throughout my lifetime I have listened to people reflect back on their college experiences and explain how college is supposed to be “the best experience of your life.” The summer after my senior year I use to try and imagine what my first semester was going to be like based on what I had heard people talk about in the past. After my first semester at NC State I realized that I couldn’t fully understand what college was like until I experienced it for myself. My first couple of weeks at Ohio State was rough and really tested my strength (mental and physical). I faced challenges and obstacles that I had never heard about in those past college experience conversations. All of a sudden there was no one to get me out of

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress.