College Life

4 Pages 951 Words

College Life
    As students enter college, they each face their own problems. Some may become overwhelmed with the problems caused by attending a higher education establishment and end up dropping out, in order to pursue work, family responsibilities, or something else. As dropout rates increased, Cal State Los Angeles decided that students needed a class to prepare them for the hardships of higher education life. Those special classes, called Introduction to Higher Learning classes were made mandatory in the first two quarters of a student’s first year in the university. The classes used a textbook called Your College Experience. This book contains many valuable lessons for starting freshmen, but the three most important lessons are in Chapter 4 (Time Management: The Foundation of Academic Success), Chapter 17 (Managing Stress), and Chapter 20 (Managing Money)
     Time Management is one of the most important, if not the most important keys to success in college. Students who can’t manage their time correctly end up having a lot of problems, both in their school life, and personal life. For most students, college is a balancing act between studying/homework, work, and family responsibilities. Without good time management skills it is often impossible to succeed in all three. Good time management is being able to decide what is the most important, and concentrate on it, without completely forgetting about the other things in life. Your College Experience provides many ideas for students to effectively manage their time.
     For me personally, certain time management ideas in Chapter 4 proved particularly useful. The Chapter helped me realize how important it is to set priorities, instead of trying to do everything. From my experiences, I learned that when you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing particularly well. The chapter also lists very good ideas as to how to make a daily plan, by setting aside time...