College a Big Change from Canton High

I feel like I have already been at for a month!  I can not believe it has only been two weeks that I moved into school.  One of the great benefits about going to a small school is that you feel so comfortable so fast.

When I first started off touring schools, I could clearly notice a difference between a big school and a small school. I toured UMASS Amherst and the feel of the campus was completely different from Colby-Sawyer. That is not to say it was bad or anything, the school was just not for me.

Everyone at Colby-Sawyer knows each other and everyone always smiles and waves at each other. Personally, that is exactly what I love!  I love to hear the campus gossip and I really like seeing familiar faces everywhere I turn. Now this may not be your cup of tea. I would advise that if you or a loved one is looking into colleges, definitely look into the size of the school and figure out what you want, because size does matter! 

However, I was wrong about one thing about Colby-Sawyer.  I figured that since my school is practically the same size as my high school, that college and high school would virtually be the same. Boy, was I wrong! I can already see and feel all the differences between college and high school. First off, I have to walk outside to get to my classes! Although this is an obvious change, my brain has yet to adjust to that factor. While in high school, I would never prepare for the weather since I was never outside. Therefore if it was raining out, I would simply throw on jeans and a shirt, hop in my car, and then quickly run inside the building. Now at school, if it is raining out, I better remember to bring my jacket or else I will be stuck in wet clothing for all of my classes! Hopefully my brain will adjust to this soon because I have yet to remember to bring an umbrella to class and it has rained about five days out of the 14 days that I have been here! 

Another minor difference between high school and college is simply the way you address the teachers. In high school it was always Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith. In college teachers are addressed as Professor Smith. Doesn’t saying professor make me seem so professional!?

One thing I am already struggling with in college is the amount of work that is given. At first it seemed overwhelming but once I got a system down, I seem to be doing okay. In high school, I could expect to be given homework from my teachers every night. I still have homework every night from my professors, but the difference is that my professors do not give me the homework at the end of class. The professors here assigned all the work that I am going to have to do throughout this semester at the beginning of the school year.

Every little essay, reading assignment or big paper due is all within the syllabus that the professor distributes on the first class day. This can be really overwhelming if not managed right and I found that when I sat down at the end of my first day of classes, I did not know where to start!  I decided that the best way to handle this stress was to organize all the work into a daily agenda and now I simply look at what is due for the next day. It seems to be working fine for me so far, so let’s keep our fingers crossed! I will let you know when I learn some more helpful hints about college life!