By Kara Donnelly and Jaelyn Moser
Every year, a new batch of students arrives, excited to begin the upcoming year. Anxiety hits when the freshmen wonder if high school prepared them adequately. We experienced this feeling first hand. Our struggles included finding the right dorm, meeting new friends, sharing spaces, and most of all, getting acclimated back into school after a long summer.
We did not, however, begin this new chapter of our lives unexperienced or unprepared. Throughout our four years of high school, we were taught independence along with responsibility that contributed to our future success here at Florida Southern. Thanks to our amazing high school teachers, staff, and friends, we believe that years of preparation made us ready to take on college with confidence.
As high school seniors, we heard that the workload varied from what we were accustomed to. These allegations proved incorrect, at least in our case. Beginning our first year of college, there were so many expectations that we thought were challenging to meet.
However, it turned out that our worries were unfounded. The lectures given then compare to what we experience now. We are used to taking notes that relate to our in-class discussions.
Prior to college, our teachers put a large emphasis on how to correctly write papers. They wanted us to be prepared for our next step in higher education, and they would be proud to know that they succeeded. The work handed to us now is not a problem because of our teachers. We are confident when presenting oral presentations and work well in group settings, which Florida Southern prides itself on.
We also proved ourselves efficient in balancing our lives outside of school work. One major thing incoming freshmen worry about is meeting new people and making friends within the first few weeks of school. The thought of spending the first year of college alone was frightening, but we believe that high school prepared us for this as well.
From a young age, we were tossed into social settings such as making small talk with family friends or interviewing for our first part-time jobs. This built character and provided us with highly useful social skills we use to this day, thanks to high school.
Being involved in extracurricular activities expanded our social spectrum. Already, we have decided to involve ourselves in various clubs and organizations here at Florida Southern. From being involved in our own high schools, both of us learned excellent time management skills due to our extremely busy schedules.
As high school athletes, we remember driving back and forth from away games and riding the bus to the most distant games while doing calculus homework. Because of our busy schedules, we believe that independence was the best characteristic we developed. We were taught independence by being allowed to drive to school and going out to dinner after a soccer game.
While we may not be as experienced as upperclassmen, high school certainly left its impression on us as we began a new adventure. Our teachers taught us how to be successful in the classroom and provided us with the skills to do so. Most of all, high school taught us how to be ourselves.
