Nguyen 1

Trang Nguyen
Dr. Bagley
Freshmen Inquiry Design and Society
5 June 20!
Freshman "ear #e$lection
First year has almost ended. It %as an interesting e&'eriment. It %as hard( challenging(
and $un at the same time. It %as not an easy 'ath( )ut the $irst year %as interesting and
challenging at the same time. *om'ared high school to college %as a )ig change. +igh school
%as more restricted in a sense( )ut in college students ha,e more $reedom- ho%e,er( this $reedom
could a$$ect students in )oth negati,e and 'ositi,e %ays. For e&am'le( the student could use the
$reedom to organi.e and study in their o%n %ays and not de'end on others or teacher. In
contrast( the student could also utili.e this $reedom to not doing the home%or/( reading )oo/(
and attending to classes. There is no)ody there to hel' to remind them li/e they used to )e in
high school. To me( I learned a lot through my $reshman year. +o%e,er( college can )e a 'ain$ul
or a great e&'erience de'ends on the student0s attitude and ho% he1she sol,es it.
It %as not easy )ecause the amount o$ %or/ %as dou)le or e,en tri'les the amount in
high school. 2''ro&imately 35 'ercent o$ students %ho enter college %ill dro' out during the
$irst year 45istrom6. It %as di$$icult $or a $reshman to $ace all o$ the o)stacles and challenges at
the same time. The $irst year %as li/e a ,iolent smash $rom the storm. I$ a student can sur,i,e the
$irst time( he or she %ould li/ely to go on%ard to earn a college degree. 5ith a college degree
'eo'le %ill ha,e the 'o%er to easily $ind 7o)s com'ares to 'eo'le %ith high school degree
searching $or 7o)s )ecause according to 8.S. Bureau o$ 9a)or Statistics also suggests that )y
20:( t%o;thirds o$ 7o)s %ill require em'loyees to ha,e a 'ost secondary education 4#asmussen6.
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<oreo,er( though this $irst year at =ortland State( I e&'erienced to not %ait until the last
minutes to turn in late %or/ )ecause it ta/es a large amount o$ time to do one assignment. >n a
'articular day( t%o to three assignments %ere due. 8nli/e high school %here many o$ the
teachers let students turn in late %or/ and )e lenient a)out it( college is di$$erent. =ro$essors do
not acce't late %or/. 2lso( organi.ation is another s/ill that I learned through the %inter term. In
high school( I did not use the 'lanner and I still memori.ed all the due dates. In contrast( in
college I ha,e to %rite do%n all the due dates and test dates in the 'lanner %hen the 'ro$essor
only ga,e out the sylla)us to the class.
Furthermore( I ha,e learned that organi.ation is the /ey o$ success a$ter my $irst year.
2ccording to 2nn <oore( ?0@ o$ 2mericans $eel they do not ha,e enough time to get
e,erything done( and 5A@ o$ all 2mericans say they are too )usy. Because o$ disorgani.ing(
'eo'le o$ten $ind that they do not ha,e enough time to $inish %or/ in 2! hours. 5hen %e %rite
do%n things that need to com'lete in order( li$e %ould get much easier( and not as )usy as it
seems. Through my $reshman year( I too/ a)out three to $our classes 'er term( it %as a lot o$
%or/( )ut I sur,i,ed )ecause I learned to manage my schedule %ell.
*ollege is challenging )ut $ascinating at the same time. 8nli/e high school ta/ing all o$
the general courses at the same time( college o'ens the door o$ ma7oring in the area that one
chooses and only ta/ing classes on that 'articular area ma/e learning more en7oya)le. +o%e,er(
due dates and late assignments in college are scary. There are no late assignments in college. Due
to %hate,er reasons( most 'ro$essors %ould not acce't late assignments( and this ma/es me
reali.e ho% real %orld %or/s. 2da'ting to the ne% en,ironment is not an easy to thing to do( )ut
once one gets through it( they %ould gain many hel'$ul tools as )asic ste's $or them to continue
%ith their college li$e.
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5or/s *ited
<oore( 2nn. B>rgani.ing Statistics C Duotes.B Life Organizing Expert. <oore >rgani.ation(
20. 5e). 2: <ay 20!.
#asmussen *ollege Blog 2dministrators. B2 *ollege Degree Is "our Best 2sset.B #asmussen
*ollege( 2E >ct. 20. 5e). 2? <ay. 20!.
5istrom( Fli.a)eth. B5hy do Students Dro' >ut o$ *ollegeGB Bright Hub. Bright +u)( 2 2ug.
202. 5e). 2? <ay. 20!.