DTE: Surviving College 101

      My name is Lan. I came to New York for several years. After i attended High School, i found out that teachers are not very strict, because Chinese teachers are way harsher on students work. But college life in America is more rigid than college life in China. College students of China can graduate college very easily; they even have a second chance if failed the test. This is an totally opposite situation in America.

I already had three quizzes during this first month. The homework that professors gave us is mostly reading material. It’s not like High School which teacher gives you homework every day. In college, it’s all depends on yourself. You can decide whether you read it or not, but the grade you can get on the test is greatly affect by how much work you have done. The only class I have to write essay during High School is English, but I probably have to write paper for almost every class in Baruch. This is the first thing I realized when I saw the syllabus, because writing is always been my weakness. Another difference is that there is more time to manage by myself. I only have four days school and two of them are 2:30PM to 5:30PM, so I’m trying to find a part-time job to spend the extra time. After all, college means growing up.

To be honest, I don’t want to grow up. Childhood is fun and careless, but the responsibility increases as you become older. There are many things to worried for now which are handled by your parents when you are young. After this first year of college, I think the crucial change of my life is becoming more responsible, self-disciplined and self-conscious. During my past 18 years, my life is mostly arranged by my parents, so I don’t have to worry that much. After the experience in college, responsibility is going to be the most important thing I learned. Lack of self-discipline is my defect. I couldn’t go to bed before 2 o’clock during the weekend and always wait for the last minute to do my work. I think the environment of college could change my defect because I need to be self-disciplined in order to be success. In truth, I don’t have a specific goal in my life, so life is aimless to me. Education is not only about learning skills but also is a way to be self-conscious. This is the reason I think education is necessary to people, and maybe I can find my own goal after freshman year.

Even though this is only the first month of the freshman year, I know college is not like High School. I hope after this year is over, I could say “I’ve done my best during this year.”