College Myths

By Carmen Nevant

“Things are going to be much harder in college.” -Every high school teacher ever

We’ve all heard these words during high school, and before that in middle school referring to high school. Teachers love to emphasize that things are going be more difficult in the future. Maybe they’re just trying to get us to stop complaining about the work they assign or maybe their speaking from their own experiences with college. Either way, I think it’s time to address the validity of these kind of statements.

Some things are simply not true. High school teachers like to make college professor’s out to be monsters, hell bent on failing you the first time you forget a punctuation mark. This is false, plain and simple. Are some professor’s much stricter than others, especially in different fields? Sure, absolutely. But even in the most difficult of fields, they’re still human beings who can be reasoned with. The other major factor teachers bring up is the difficulty of college.

I feel that as of now, I can say with absolute certainty that college is easier than high school, except for when it’s not….

Let me explain….

I hated high school. Sure, there were a lot of things I liked, like the people and being part of a sports team, but those are only a small part of the amount of time I had to spend there. I couldn’t stand having eight classes a day and having to worry about homework nightly. I already had to spend most of the day pretending to care about classes I’m forced to take, why should I have to do it at home too. High school felt absolutely suffocating. So, when I think about whether college is easier than high school, my answer is absolutely…for me.

Whether or not college is hard or not is of course subjective, but there are some universal factors that affect how people feel. I feel that the freedom of college is a blessing, but people who are bad with time management might feel otherwise. The work is hard, sure, but in most cases, people are studying something they’re interested in, so it usually doesn’t feel like a chore. I feel like I’m held to a higher standard in college, but it’s a standard I don’t feel inconvenienced by, and in fact take pride in. Of course, different majors require different amounts of time and effort, but even the most difficult pursuits in college are non-mandatory. People have chosen to pursue them, and in most cases have the will to do so, making it a worthwhile experience.

I think the biggest factor high school teachers overlook when talking about college is that we want to be there. And don’t get me wrong, plenty of people love high school, and there were some classes I enjoyed, but I’m hard pressed to believe anyone wanted to go to eight hours of classes every day for four years. The unifying factor is that both high school and college are what you make them. There will be things in both that you like and dislike, and which you prefer might just come down to who you are, and what you’re looking to pursue….

….but college is better, like way better.