Sanchez 1 Cassandra C.

Sanchez English 114 a Professor Derohanessian 5 December 2013

Ready or Not Do well in school so you can do better in college, my mom always said to me. My family has raised me to believe that high school was a mere stepping stone to college, that high school was just a starting point in education while college was a completely different and challenging level. They said college is all about you and your dedication to your education. If i wanted a chance of a good future, I would have to be very studious and be very devoted to my grades. Im pretty sure Im not alone when I say that most parents have made college sound way too serious and a lot more intimidating than it should be. I am currently a freshman in CSU, Northridge. To be precise, I have been a CSUN student for 3 weeks 3 days and 10 hours as of right now. I barely started my college life and yet I find it crazy to see so many differences and similarities there are between Northridge and my high school, Eagle Rock. It wasnt until my junior year of high school that a chain reaction started; everyone knew this was the make it or break it year if we wanted to go to a good college. In high school I heard about a ton of clubs, activities and AP classes that were supposed to prepare me for college. Since I didnt want to be left behind on my journey to college, I tried some of these opportunities. For me, Ive always been interested in clubs and activities, so I joined numerous leadership groups which are actually a lot similar to the leadership groups here. Northridge even has the continuation of my high school Key Club, except it's called Circle K here in Northridge.

Sanchez 2 Other than club, I joined at least 2-3 AP classes in high school to prepare me for college or to at least get me ahead in college credits. I took AP US History, AP Psychology, and AP Studio Art. I may not have got the credit I wanted for college from these classes but I did learn a few things from it that gave me a bit of an advantage for some of my college courses. Hoping to do some sort of career in the arts, I became an Art Major. From my high school AP Studio art I learned most of the techniques I needed to perform in my two art classes this year. But what my high school art class failed to prepare me for was the skill ,time, and focus needed to perfectly sculpt art that would appeal to the community on more than just an physical level but an emotional level. I have to say my parents were right when they said college was a completely different level. It hasnt been easy for me, I find myself having to work harder and harder every single day in order to keep up with the class; Ive learned about different colors, techniques and styles that appeal and attract a persons attention and I know there is still much more to learn. Luckily, within the past two weeks Ive already had two to three projects that have involved the skills and techniques that I had already developed from my high school course. But I know it won't always be this easy because sooner or later, I know my luck is going to run out. Moreover, I can say the same for my math and English classes here in Northridge. I have increased my knowledge for these classes in high school due to the fact that these are never ending topics that get more and more into depth each year. And so far, I havent gone too much out of my comfort zone that I am not familiar with from high school. Freshman year has been mainly the basics so far. But in comparison of my high school and college, I'd have to say my math teacher is substantially different, which I find very odd. I always thought high school teachers would care and try to make education enjoyable, yet through recent experience I have learned that my college math teacher cares more about how his students gain knowledge while

Sanchez 3 having fun. I was never good at math to begin with, but ever since my college math, it has felt easier to learn knowing your teacher seems to actually care. I only wish college would give less homework assignments. And for English its the same thing, I was taught to properly write and express my ideas onto paper in a well-mannered and educated way using MLA, citing sources and correct grammar tenses from high school, but it wasnt until college that I could no longer slack on my writing and avoid my fears of typing out essays and sharing my ideas. My college English class has pushed me further and further into the potential writer I can be every day due to the fact that I am no longer aloud to hide under my shell; my college English class is forcing me to excel and express sophisticated ideas that I probably would have never cared about until I had this class. One of the things that really made me see a difference in my high school and college English classes was when my college professor said something similar to this, I dont want you to grow up not being able to have un- intellectual conversations making you sound dumb and what not. Hearing that, made me realize the truth of her words, which my college class was nothing like my old high school class where I could just read book reports, type quick essays and get credit. College English was an important aspect of my life that could take me really far in my future whether it be in normal conversations to even express my ideas or it even being able to critique which is especially important with my wants to be an art major. Id need to be able to express my ideas and share them in a proper yet clever way. I am really lucky that my college teachers seem to care way more than my high school teachers ever did because if not, I'd probably be stuck in the same mind set of a little kid instead of wanting to be able to advance in my knowledge. Furthermore, though I dont currently have a science class in college, I think the best advice and skill I gained from high school was from my sophomore biology the teacher Mr.

Sanchez 4 Lord. Even though I wasnt that interested in this subject and to make it worse I wasnt very good at it either, I still believe I gained the most important experiences to help me be ready for college in his class in comparison to all of my other classes. My. Lord was the only teacher to actually enforce the students to make and create our future idea career and our plan to reach our goal. This project really challenged me and got me to realize that in order to do successful in college, I needed to start with a plan. He also gave me the confidence to pursue my dream of working in the Arts for a career because he said, Life is what you make it and if you set your mind to it, nothings impossible. That quote really stuck to me and led me to where I am today, an art major trying to do her best in college whether the road may be risky or tough, and I am determined to reach my destination. In addition, my teacher treated everyone like we were college students. And as a current college student, I can literally say that is true. He let us have full control of how we learned and just guided us to what we needed but we literally had to selfteach ourselves the lessons. He was also the first teacher to teach me the ways of cornel notes which saved me in tough situations because it was incredibly handy for quick well detailed notes for my college classes. Furthermore, this class taught me to manage an organize my time onto a schedule of how much time I should put into fun school, relaxation and other things I was dedicated too. And finally this class has made me have to keep up with all the readings, tests, projects and homework on my own which made me is able to adapt to this fast paced college. If I never had this class, college would have been the hardest most challenging transition I ever had to make in my entire life. The only thing I really regret and wish I could have fixed to prepare myself better for college was my mind set. I wish I started off high school more focused and determined. For example, when Amy Tan wrote in her article Mother Tongue that I happen to be rebellious in

Sanchez 5 nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me, (Tan 4) that made me wish I was more like that earlier when it came to my studies. Amy Tans fighting spirit is what I wish I had in high school and it is the spirit I desire to gain in my college experiences. If I made a strategy for my career and my college sooner I feel like I would have been not only a better, more refined student but I think I would have had outstanding grades and I would have been more confident and assertive in my studies. My high school mind set made me the low selfesteem and shy student I am today. If only I started high school with a better focus with my head held high, I could have been confidently walking down these college halls while being the top of my class instead of always settling for average. To be realistic on my ideas of college, I'd like to say a few things. College has taught me that life is not easy, you can be experienced on a certain subject but that is not even close to how far you still have to go in your education and understanding. I've learned that teachers in college will no longer spoon feed us the curriculum and that only I control where my future will take me. College is an independent, maybe even lonely and stressful time of our life that can also be the best memories ever because it was the story of how we become who we become in the future. Overall I have many regrets and things that I am grateful for from my high school that either helped me or stressed me about my transition to college. But never the less, I am still a young student just trying to find my way and through my experiences I am trying to do my best. And ready or not, here I am college.

Sanchez 6 Work Cited Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.