The Transition: High School to College

Any college alumni, or student, can tell of their college life and experiences, but no one talks about the transition from high school to college. Students may stress about going to college because they don’t know what it’s like. The best way to ease the stress of these students seems to be to personally ask this year’s college freshmen.

After getting in touch with various 2019 Carolina Forest High graduates, I learned many new things about what the transition is like. College is different from high school in almost every way possible, good and bad.

One difference is the amount of responsibility a student must have to get their work done. High school teachers are always reminding students to turn things in, but college professors usually do not do this.  A strong regime of self-discipline is needed in order to not fall behind in classes.

“The hardest part of going from high school to college is having your own responsibility for getting your work done,” explains Brian Chestnut, a freshman from Horry Georgetown Technical College.

There’s less judgment in college than there is in high school. People don’t categorize others into their grade level. Everyone is there for the same purpose, so there is no reason to judge people based on labels. However, there will always be a handful of people who continue to judge, so it’s best to just ignore them.

“If you’re under 18, or even 21, some people act weird, like you’re a child,” warns Karsyn Capps, a freshman from Coastal Carolina University.

Since everyone goes his/her separate ways after high school, some people may miss seeing their friends each day. This is another sad aspect of college, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s easier to make friends once in college. All someone has to do is strike up a conversation with a person.

“Talk to people! Most of them accept you for who you are,” advises Capps. 

Although college is quite different from high school, it’s a transition that must be made in order to start the next chapter of life. Once it’s completed, the stress is resolved, and it ends up not being as bad as it seems.