Compare and Contrast College Life vs. High School Life
High school life and College life are different in many aspects due to the fundamentals, which make high school different from College life. College life is meant for people who have attained a higher certain level of maturity, which is vital for survival in an independent environment. College life mostly entails making independent decisions, which have an impact on one’s life. Hence, the presence of maturity in an individual means the individual is able to make decisions independent of any instructions or people making decisions on their behalf. High school on the other hand entails nurturing of individuals before they attain the level of maturity for survival in the outside world and more so in college (Mariage & Garmon, 219).
High school can be described as an institution, which is meant to nurture adolescents into adulthood to enable them, make their own choices. The difference of high school life and college life can be described from the independence perspective in which individuals in both institutions exercise different levels of individual freedoms. In high school most of the decisions affecting them directly such as the choice to arrange flexible learning schedules. Whereas college life an individual is solely determined by the decision, he or she makes. An individual is responsible for managing his time such as deciding on whether to attend classes or to attend parties. This is in total contrast to high school whereby it is mandatory to attend classes. In addition the presence of teachers in high school are meant to ensure students adhere to the rules and regulations in school such as must attendance of classes, arrival to class sessions on time, no bullying in school among others.
This is a clear indication of the restrictions in high school. Whereas in College the students are responsible for their own grades because absence to class sessions does not attract punishment but reflects on the grading of the individual student. This high degree of independence can be a pitfall for individuals who have never exercised any form of independence in their lives. In such an environment, some are susceptible to falling into drugs abuse because of the absence of someone to monitor them as was in high school. Some develop drug addictions because they were introduced by friends who were considered as cool. This is because of the need for acceptance by cliques, which are the norm in colleges, whereby different groups of individuals are defined by their social classes and in some cases, some form groups or cliques based on race and ethnicity.
In college, one has the choice of participating in extracurricular activities, which however is not mandatory, as it does not add to the final grade. However, this is different in High School because it is mandatory to be involved in at least one co-curricular act because most of the students in high school are in a developmental stage requires fitness to keep healthy. In addition in high school extracurricular activities offer talented students the chance of being identified or more so of getting scholarships in top universities. Thus, high school lays a lot of emphasis on extracurricular activities because they can enable an individual to succeed in life. However, in college there is more emphasis on curricular activities because good grades in colleges have the potential of getting an individual to great career heights.
College life is plagued with tempting decisions, which might be detrimental to the future of an individual. Some choices might be ethical and moral and one has to make such without help from others or others to make decisions on behalf of them. In high school, it is mandatory to have assignments done and supervised by the teachers to ascertain if the tasks were done in a satisfactory manner. Whereas in college it is from one’s own inner dictate in decisions to accomplish assignments even if they are not ascertained by the lecturers (Mariage & Garmon, 222). However, in some cases some assignments if not completed might result in failure in the specific module or area in study. In high school if a teacher finds out which an individual is experiencing difficulties in completing assignments then the teacher finds a chance to help even if not asked to by the student. Whereas in College it is different from high school because a student has to initiate contact with the lecturer to find remedies for his difficulties.
Class work in High School is very different form College work in many aspects. In colleges, lecturers follow their own outlines, which they use, may be in different institutions because the mode of teaching is different from the mode of teaching by the different lecturers, some use illustrations, handouts to be read at an individual times, research on certain topics. Some lectures may give lectures without pausing in order to complete their set out workload. This is different in a high school setting because the teachers teach in a slow manner to ensure which the students are able to grasp what is taught. Moreover, the teachers are able to give short quizzes without prior notice to the students to gauge their understanding on certain topics. This is however different in a college setting because the lectures has to give prior notice to the students to enable them to prepare adequately for the tests as they usually carry points which reflect on the overall performance of a student in the entire semester. Classes in colleges are usually made up of more than one hundred students from varying backgrounds and countries. Thus, a college student is presented with the task of co-existing with people from different backgrounds who might have difficulties in associating with other students because of their linguistic problems or social understandings.
A student in high school does not have an idea of what it takes to graduate as the are not responsible for such aspects in school. However, a student in college is able to cater for his or her graduation requirements because of the complexities involved in the formation of graduation requirements; they usually differ from one year to another. The student is thus required to keep in line with the requirements of graduating so as not to forfeit his chance to graduate. In atypical high school, a student is expected to attend classes for at least 36 weeks per year with varying levels of each semester or school term. In contrast, the college is divided into two separate semesters, which is each fifteen weeks long plus an additional week, which is meant for examinations (Mariage & Garmon, 225).
In relation to examinations, high school students are required to face frequent tests, which are usually short, as they tend to cover small areas of workload so as not to burden the student. In addition, the students in high school are instructed on what to expect form the tests. Thus, they are expressly aware of what to expect in examinations. In contrast to college examination, they are usually long, as they tend to cover more material and large areas of reading. Thus, a student in college is expected to read constantly in preparation of tests. Moreover, the students are not usually aware of what a test will cover because the topics or readings are usually vast. Test dates in high schools are usually set in a way so as not to collide with other school activities. In contrast to high school life, a student is responsible for organizing his or her personal schedule so as it does not conflict with the exam dates or programme provided. The lecturers or examination board in colleges organizes examination dates without regard for personal issues or plans of the examinee (Mariage & Garmon, 229).
College is full of individual responsibilities. It is also marred by the presence of moral and ethical pitfalls for an individual. Thus before attending college an individual should understand the responsibilities which come with attending college. He or she should be decisive and adamant in making individual decisions as they determine the success of god forbid, failure of an individual in college. One should have staunch morals and principles, which cannot be swayed by pressure from peers with relative ease. One should be prepared to undertake huge workload due to the vast reading as college courses require to graduate. To graduate with exceptional qualifications one must be willing to sacrifice individual pleasures, which will always be there even after college. College requires one essential trait form an individual to excel, self-drive. Self-drive is essential to make independent decisions without requiring others to make decisions on behalf of them or being influenced by the choices of peers to make identical choices, which suit them only.
One should not leave high school without adequate preparations to take up the responsibilities, which come with accepting the chance of joining college. Interaction with morally upright people is vital to avoid the moral pitfalls such as drug addiction, which are usually developed when people join college. In addition, interaction with professors and lecturers is vital for problem solving; as they are able to help when consulted due to their busy schedules and large numbers of students, they cannot help all students by moving form one student to help them. Setting goals to achieve before the end of the semester is vital to achieve examination requirements in terms of reading (Mariage & Garmon, 232). This can only be achieved by setting out a plan, which will guide an individual in achieving such goals. This should be clearly set out so as to enable one to evaluate the performance within a certain period.
College life can be a challenge without adequate preparations and social skills as on is set to relate with people from varying cultures, religion, countries, races and ethnicities. Thus one should be able to relate and respect people regardless if their values and beliefs are contrary to one’s won beliefs. This acts as a preparation for life after college as one is bound to meet different people in workplaces, offices and on official duties abroad.
Work cited
Mariage, Troy & M Garmon. “A Case of Educational Change.” Remedial and Special Education. 24.4 (2003): 215-234. Print.
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