Perceptions Of College

Professor Lee

English 098 10:00

October 10, 2005

I Never Thought I'd Make It Here

College is going to be the "turning point" in a person's life, or so I have been told. My peers told me a number of different stories of what life is like on campus and generally, it sounded like it included all the things I enjoyed or wanted in high school times ten, plus all the things I hated gone. I felt college is going to be a whole new experience and that I would create new habits with a few I wouldn't enjoy. My perceptions and knowledge would be broadened and I would become more part of the larger world outside my neighborhood.

I thought the campus was so large I'd get lost easily, but all my classes were in the same area and so getting around wasn't so bad. The classroom sizes were larger and the instructor was now Ð''Professor' or Ð''Doctor.' Using Ð''Mr.' and Mrs.' was out of the question. It felt unprofessional anyways. Lecture halls were the size of our high school gymnasium and what caught my attention was the sleeping few who got away free at the end of class. It was funny because they'd get pretty loud at times and wake themselves up. My uncle said studying would become a habit. In fact, it could turn out to be a seven hour a day habit. My jaw dropped, but after a few weeks, one begins understand that seven hours isn't that much studying time. It could feel like only one hour of studying if you take frequent breaks, go on the computer, eat, take naps, and read slowly. Taking notes become a different process as well and the main focus was what Professor had to say. Only when it felt safe, you could write a few words down, but by then you'd have missed an entire important piece of the entire day. It's as much enjoyable as it is confusing to watch people write everything the Professor is saying, kind of like trying to keep up with a speed talker.

One of the other more enjoyable aspects of the college life is the overwhelming female population. Thousands surrounded you at every moment and for me, that was exciting. Parties were to become a daily alcoholic get together and the "dorm life" was the experience enhancer. My best friend who attends Santa Clara University told me, "College is about getting wasted all the time, and still busting out straight A's." I would continue on to test that theory. At the dorms, everyone approached the legal drinking age, but that didn't stop anyone from consuming. Freedom bared a new name. Everyone was also on the constant lookout of stray dollar bills for the lack of. Cafeteria food was much more elegant than crummy high school pizza, but they knew how to empty pockets at the same time. The first sentence of conversations for new students tends to be, "Hi, what's your major." But it was better than the high school drama issues. I was tired of hearing about who did what or who did who last night and now everyone's in tears. Now everyone was there for the same purpose, to learn, and no one had a clue who was popular anymore.

On my first day of school, my heart was pounding. I was nervous about what college would be like, worried about if I could make friends, or even get to class on time. My ideas were almost the opposite of what I had perceived, but I was right on a few things. The learning process in class was more much enjoyable because there was more freedom to talk and laugh about the subject where as in high school, you had to keep your head tucked between your legs when the teacher spoke. I sat at the front of most of my classes like my brother told me to. There were no assigned seats and we played musical chairs in many of the smaller classes each morning. No one cared if their seat was taken. Seven hours in the library surrounded by text books seemed like hell to me the first week and my eyes fell off the page, but I discovered