School is almost over which means summer will finally be here! This semester has been incredibly hard so I am actually counting down the days until I’m free.

The classes I took this semester had me thinking about when I was in high school and would talk to the college students for advice. I remember my biggest concern being that I would have a very hard time with the material and I just wouldn’t be prepared. However, my freshman year was a breeze. I stressed myself out more thinking about what was to come than my actual classes did. I am really grateful that the rigor of the classes I took in high school prepared me for what was to come. But just because the classes in high school prepare you (or don’t), doesn’t mean that you’re set up for success or failure. It’s all about how you decide to go about it.

In high school, I felt that the material was fairly easy. I never had to put in a lot of time into studying to get good grades, it came pretty naturally for me. But now that I am in college, I realize it isn’t about the material at all. It’s about how you study and what you do with the information. In order to succeed in college, you need to put in a good chunk of time towards studying. The exams are comprehensive, not just memorization. You won’t succeed if you just read and memorize anything without fully understanding the information you are going over in class. And if the material simply just isn’t making sense, the next stop is tutoring. It’s really important to utilize the tutoring opportunities on campus because now that you are paying for your education, you’re only going to get out of it what you put in. You need to do everything in your power to make sure you do the absolute best you can do.

-Andrea