To know why do students struggle with the transition from school to university….Read on this article…!
There are very few phases in your lives that shape and mold you into the best version of yourselves. College is one of those phases, if not the best one as far as character development is concerned. It is the place where dreams come true for a large part of the population- the stepping stone to a proper professional life. It helps you see the world for what it is through its brutal lens and gives you some of the biggest reality checks of your life. College holds a higher importance than high school, which is exactly why there is a huge gap between what you get in school and what you get in college. This gap which consists of a plethora of reasons is also precisely the reason why students struggle to cope with transition from school to university.Let us delve deeper into this very fragile and demanding time
Why Do Students Struggle With The Transition From School To University?
How Is College Different From School?
The difference between school and college is stark. You don’t have a curfew to follow, you don’t have to bend to the impositions set by your parents and you are ready to take over the world! The transition from school to college is a very exciting time as it is scary, as it is the biggest change you may have seen or experienced at that particular point in time.
You may think that you’re ready to face the world when you leave home for college, but this time in your life has 100 ways of surprising you. And it is when you get knocked off your feet with these surprises that the transition from school to college gets rough. College is different in the sense that it provides you with a much more independent nature of studying than what is demanded in school- you are completely in charge of your time!
You will also be able to pick and choose some of your classes based on your preference- this might just be the biggest change, with you not having to subscribe to the cookie-cutter classes that are given to you with no choice. One of the life-changing developments for you in college would easily be learning to manage the responsibilities of life without drowning in them. It is easy to ask for freedom but not so easy to do justice to it when you are given it. This throws a lot of people off balance.
What Precisely Are The Reasons For This Rocky Transition?
Culture Shock:
When you go to school, you usually end up going with people who live in and around your area or with those who come from a similar situation as you. College, however, is not the same. When you go to college, people from across the country or even the world come over to study alongside you. You might feel overwhelmed by the different kinds of people and the quality that they bring to your environment.
Financial Instability:
One of the biggest negatives of college is how much it costs and how much of a financial burden it is on students. You come into college knowing that you’ve got loans to pay and you can’t be too loose with the money that you spend- every penny saved can be used to pay back your loans. You come into college with this mentality and it would most certainly make the financial inequality glaring. This can take a toll on you and make your transition into college a hard one.
Lack Of Connections:
Let’s be honest- getting internships and jobs might partly rely on your talent and some other field-based metrics, but what also plays a big role in where you end up is the people you rub shoulders with. A lot of people attribute their careers to people that they managed to work with within the early stages and this begins with the network you manage to create in your college days. This can create a certain amount of pressure on those who feel like they’re not mixing in with the right people.
Too Much To Do And So Little Time:
College is a very happening place and this means there are so many things to do and choose from. While initially, the excitement of a lot of choices can push you towards taking up a whole lot, you might be overwhelmed by how much you’ve signed up to do and how little time you’ve got. Added to what you opt to be a part of, there are also the responsibilities that you don’t choose but have to take up anyway- laundry, cleaning and whatnot. All of this can eat up your time significantly and it will most certainly be hard for you until you learn to strike a balance.
Going Far Away:
Getting out of your comfort zone at the tender age of 17 or 18 is very daunting. It throws you far away from what you know and what you’re familiar with. A complete change in your surroundings and the people that you’re around can make you nervous at any given point in time. It takes a lot of time for one to adjust to the new environment and surroundings and this can make your transition into college from high school that much harder. A little tip to making sure your journey from school to university is swift is to ensure that you take it a day at a time and show some maturity. The faster you understand that this is your adult life and there is nothing you can do to change it, the better.
Conclusion
Going to college from school comes with some tough challenges. It makes you want to give up and run too, at times. But what you may fail to realize is that things are hard only until you get into the swing of things. The moment you take charge and understand the process, the faster you are on your way to owning your adult life and leaving your insecurities and transition nervousness behind! So, get out there now!
