Last updated on September 26, 2019
by Cherokee Bledsoe, one of our fall student bloggers
So, I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, you have tons of articles for scholarship tips and a thousand talking about what to expect as a college student (Studying! Finals! Responsibility! Oh my!) but, at least in my case, I still felt really unprepared on my last day of high school. Freshly-printed diploma gripped in my hands and graduation cap still on my head, the giant, monstrous concept of higher education was staring down at me like I was a delicious break from its ramen-every-day diet.
Okay, maybe that was a little bit of an over exaggeration. Even so, it seemed that no matter how prepared I tried to be, I didn’t actually know what to expect in terms of “college life” until I, well, actually went to college. I’m going to give you guys a little peek into my daily school situation, in hopes of turning that giant scary college monster into something less daunting and more realistic! Let’s start from the beginning.
A Day in My Life
6 a.m. – Alarm #1 goes off… No dice. Maybe staying up all night on Minecraft wasn’t the best idea. Whoops.
7:30 a.m. – Okay, let’s try this again! Alarm #2, time to do your thing! Finally up, too late for coffee, but no biggie. Time for a nice hot shower and some breakfast!
9:30 a.m. – Yep, all of you night owls are going to hate me for this. Two hours later, and now it’s time to head to school!
10:10 a.m. – Time for my first class! Finally! On Monday mornings, I take my Learning Frameworks class. For those of you who aren’t in college yet, Learning Frameworks is a super easy required class for first-year students. What do you learn? How to be a totally kickin’ college student, of course! Awesome, right? Our class has been focusing on critical thinking and learning types. We even learned a few new note-taking techniques which have worked amazingly well so far! See? Totally awesome.
11 a.m. – The class is officially dismissed. I have a nice break between classes, so I have time to head home for an hour or two.
11:30 a.m. – Finally home! I make a small lunch and sit down in the living room. Usually, my Learning Frameworks class requires a weekly journal, so I go ahead and type that up and do any other assigned homework while I eat my lunch. (Thankfully, with this method, I don’t end my day with a pile of homework from more than one class!) I make sure that I have all of my stuff for my next class packed and ready to go, and I leave the house around 1:20 p.m.
2 p.m. – My next class begins! Now I’m in U.S History, which is definitely what one would consider a stereotypically college-like course. The course is taught as a lecture, PowerPoint included. Speaking of which, boy do I have a tip for you! When your learning is based on lectures and note-taking, it’s really important to learn how to prioritize! I’ve learned over the semester that jotting down the PowerPoint notes and zoning out as the professor talks isn’t really the best way to learn. (Not to mention it’s really easy to miss important information!) I started focusing on the professor’s words one day, and you wouldn’t believe my surprise: He actually pointed out which bits would be on the next test! Listen to your professors, guys! Turns out they’re not just there to look smart!
3:30 p.m. – My school day is officially over! I pack up my bags and drive home. (Ew, school-zone traffic.) Once I get to my house, I pull out my laptop and do my history homework. Thankfully, I actually don’t have much besides some required reading, which is no biggie. If I’m completely homework-free, then I usually type up my notes in a Word document. Not only does it spare me from my terrible toddler-esque handwriting, but copying it again is a great way to memorize information!
So, there you go, folks. Hopefully now that giant college monster looks a little less intimidating and more, you know, cute and fuzzy!