The Transition From High School To College.

             I was at the age of 16 going into 17 when I realized that the transition from high school to college is a major turning point in my life. High school was really something that I did not take seriously and thought that it would not affect me if I messed up a few times. I also thought that high school was just a continuation of all the other grades that I passed. From looking at the work that I was learning in high school I thought to my self why would I need this in the future and how will this help me to perusing my career goals. Some of the things that I learned in high school seriously were not necessary like squaring numbers in math and how to solver equation. I knew for a fact that the teachers wanted you to get a advance learning in math but I also thought it was punishment for learning things that I will not need to know in the future. My major life as a student starting to kick in when I was in 11^th grade. In the 11^th grade this is when you start to get yourself ready for college and focus more on college work than the basic work you was already learning. In the 11^thgrade I took my sat for college I was assigned to take this sat at Jamaicahigh school. I did not know that the grade that you get for this sat would determine which college would accept you so honestly I just did what ever just to finish the test and in the time frame that we have to finish the test. I got a low grade on this sat and therefore I was accepted to LaGuardia community college which is not a bad school but also not the best out there. As I entered 12^th grade before graduating and moving onto college the year flew by and it was nothing that had to do anything with college it was just something that I had to go through and to pass all my class in order to graduate and go to college. College is a worth while process that everyone should take seriously if they had the chance to and it all starts from the beginning of 11^th grade and continues further.

            In high school the only subjects that I was mastering in was English, Math, and Art. English was my 1^st and main subject that I was good at. The only reason why I was good in English was because the only thing I would have to do is read several different things and when I finished reading I would have to write what I just read and try to comprehend what I read. The most helpful tip that I got when reading was after I finish reading I would skim through the parts that makes a point. I would have a post it beside me writing down what I understood from that point and after I gathered all my notes I would revise it and try to make a mini summary of the entire reading. Math was the 2nd subject I was good at. It was easy because I did not have to deal with a lot of complicated things all I had to deal with was numbers. I worked at a faster pace when it came to math because once I knew how to solve the problem and I seen an example it helped me get though solving the other problems more easily. Art was the 3^rd subject that I was good at the only reason why I like art was because it including coloring and drawing but nothing to hard or complicated. I liked colorful things and I like to express my self and by making art one of my main subjects I figured out that art was a good way to express you. Also another reason why I like art is because if you’re really into what you are doing in art it takes away a lot of free time and it keeps you going and it is something I like to do.

            The 1^st subject that I found that is my least interest is history. I found this hard because I thought of it as a subject that was not important to me. I found out that I will not need this in life and every time I touch upon this subject my mind tends to stray away and go into other deeper thoughts that I found at my interest. The 2^nd topic that I found hard on me was science. The reason why I found this hard on me was because I thought that it was a tough subject and it only good and interesting part was the experiments, but other wise than that I found out that I don’t need science to get my self some where in life. The teachers are making us do this just for the fun of it and to just punish us I also thought that the hands on lab work was easy and its fun to do. Science was a challenge and even though history is something good to learn about I get distracted very easily when it comes to these things and it tends to bore me and lose my attention.

            One of my low point in school was when I started college not knowing what I was suppose to do or what was suppose to be done because I was a new comer into the real world. I started off doing things on my own and in the wrong way the way. The first thing I started to do wrong was sign up for financial aid which I didn’t know that they had other parts you can sign up for such as tap and grand awards to get more money to pay for your tuition. I had to stand in line and get help from others that wasn’t even sure them selves what I had to do or what was the next step I should take to get full coverage for my tuition. Another low point I had in school was that I did not know how to register for classes and what I’m suppose to do in order to get the schedule of classes that I need to fit my specific major. I also had a hard time picking which major I was interested in after 1 year of deciding what I want my future career to be about I started to take classes based upon that major which was radiology. I did not know that the school requires high grades in order to be accepted to this program and most of all I did not know or was not notified that there was no professor to teach this specific major and I would have to take other classes for the time or I would just have to wait until the seats would be available. So therefore I wasted one year of school and I took classes that would not even be necessary towards any other major if I switched. So I decided to switch to early childhood education which I thought would be better for me because since I was little I always wanted to become a teacher or teach little kids how to read and write. So I had to start all over again and make back up the credits that I need and take different sets of classes toward the education major.           

            My current school LaGuardia Community College is described as a school that has several different buildings attached to make one campus. The only difference is that the classes are spread out among these four buildings. In every building there is a different task that is being performed based upon the school needs and requirements. I personally think that with everything being spread out among the campus it is harder for the facilities to communicate and get in contact with each other on information that is needed to know. As for the three years that I have been in this school my experience is horrible because some of the offices that can not help you with one issue transfer you to someone else who is not even sure can help you but they still advise you to go anyways. As per the change of information that the facilities are supposed to know to help other students they are not current and updated with the correct information. Once they get there problem or job done I feel that they do not care about anything else and that you are suppose to figure out everything on your own. For example I had an issue with registering for classes for an internship on the CUNY first website and they would not let me. When I called the school to find out what is going on the person told me that she is not sure why it is not working and I have to come in to solve the issue. When I came in that was when they mentioned that they had changed the course section and they have to enroll you manually. So I was thinking to myself why couldn’t they update me with this info before hand instead of my worrying and trying to figure out what is going on. I also thought to myself why would they put people in the information part of LaGuardia to answer questions and help others if they do not even know themselves the answer or what is the next action they should take. 

            My life differed as a student with the transition of high school to college. Several tasks that are performed were to better me as a student and to reach to future goals. These tasks made me realize the differences between a school that you can just slack on work and still pass and a campus that you take seriously and your grade depends on what you do in the class and how well you perform the task that is given to you. After all my life as a student made me a better person today. It also made me want to go back if I had the opportunity and try to fix certain things to make it better.