[nabs-l] Five reasons why college is better than high school!

Tue Aug 11 02:07:20 UTC 2015

Thanks, Chris. In fact, part of the reason I posted this was in
response to the pessimistic attitudes that many blindness
professionals tend to pass on to incoming college students that, even
if well-intentioned, tend to instill more unfounded fear than anything
else. Even though the support system changes in college, I would argue
that college students have a greater variety of resources to access
than high school students--both in terms of textbook repositories and
in terms of tutoring and academic assistance. And not being tied down
to an IEP can be very freeing.
Of course doing well in college requires work and dedication. But
college also gives you ample opportunities to explore what strategies
work best for you.
Best, Arielle

On 8/10/15, Chris Nusbaum via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Arielle:
>
> This is awesome! Thank you so much for posting these thoughts. As a rising
> senior who is working toward deciding which college I will attend, I think
> these words of encouragement will really help.
>
> In my opinion, some high school teachers, parents of high school students,
> and others do a disservice to us when they emphasize the "on-your-own"
> nature of college as a negative without reminding us of the positives as
> you
> have. My former TVI, for example, always loved to point out that in college
> I will have no TVI, no full-time Braille transcriber, no IEP, and no
> support
> team. While this is true, the way she and other adults sometimes framed it
> gave me the impression that I would be simply thrown to the wolves, left to
> sink or swim based on my own survival skills. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a
> bit, but that's how I thought of it. Honestly, though I have always known
> college is an essential step toward my career goal, the idea of college has
> been very scary to me. For this reason, I can totally identify with Kayla's
> sentiments as expressed in her original post.
>
> As I continue on the college search journey and learn more about college
> life from students and faculty alike, however, I am finding that the
> prospect is no longer scary. While I won't have the support I had in high
> school, neither will I be thrown to the wolves. My professors, the DSS
> office, and fellow students will be able to give me the support I need when
> I need it. In high school, in fact, I have already begun to take the
> necessary steps to prepare for college--downloading my own electronic
> textbooks, communicating directly with teachers, self-advocacy, etc. Though
> I won't be "babysat" (as some adults put it) as I have been in high school,
> neither will I be as restricted in my schedule and classwork. Overall, I'm
> learning, college won't be such a big deal. So thank you once again for
> instilling some confidence in this college-bound high school student.
>
> Chris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
> Silverman via nabs-l
> Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 11:01 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Arielle Silverman
> Subject: [nabs-l] Five reasons why college is better than high school!
>
> Hi all. For those of you who will be transitioning from high school to
> college this fall, or seniors getting ready to apply to college, I wanted
> to
> send along this hopefully-encouraging post regarding why, in my experience,
> college was far better and easier than high school.
> Disclaimer: This post is mostly opinion (though some of it will probably
> apply to most college students). Some of you may disagree with some of what
> I say, and if you do, feel free to join the discussion.
>
> 1. You have much more free time in college. Typically, high school involves
> five or six hour-long class periods five days a week, plus lunch. That adds
> up to 30 plus hours on campus every week. In college, most students take
> 12-15 hours of classes per week. Most college classes (except for language
> classes) don't meet every day. So you will have lots of extra time to spend
> as you want.
> 2. You get to make your own schedule. Are you a night owl? Sign up for
> night
> classes, or at least don't sign up for any classes before 10 a.m. Want to
> take Fridays off? Set your schedule so your classes are all
> Monday-Wednesday
> or Tuesday-Thursday. OK, sometimes that's not a possibility, but you have
> far more flexibility when setting your schedule in college, since most
> classes are taught multiple times during the week. Many universities also
> have online course offerings, giving you even more schedule flexibility.
> 3. Less homework! That's right! Yes, you do need to keep up with the
> assigned readings, papers and at least look over your notes before each
> test. But if your high school experience was anything like mine, there were
> probably a lot of "busy work" worksheets and study guides you had to fill
> out for a grade (which often weren't available in Braille on time). In
> college, they don't care so much how you learn the material as long as you
> understand it well enough to pass the exams and/or write coherent papers.
> Math classes will have regular homework, but for most other classes there
> will only be a few assignments. Plus, professors are required to give you a
> schedule of when everything is due at the beginning of the semester (a
> "syllabus") so you can plan ahead. While papers can be a bit overwhelming
> at
> first, the long time you get to complete them means that you can easily
> enlist help from tutors and the professor. (see next point).
> 4. Your teachers are experts in their subject who set up regular times to
> help students. Most university professors have to have a doctorate in their
> subject in order to teach. That means they've voluntarily spent 4-7 years
> studying the subject in depth and then wrote a short book (dissertation)
> about that subject. Trust me, nobody would go through the dissertation
> process and finish it if they didn't really really love that subject! Even
> lower-level instructors (which you may get for intro classes or community
> college classes) typically have to have a master's degree which involves at
> least 2 years of intense studies in that subject. While I can't promise
> that
> all professors are good teachers, they will usually be far more
> knowledgeable than your high school teachers are about the specific
> subjects
> they teach.
> Furthermore, college teachers are usually required to hold office hours,
> the
> sole purpose of which is to help students with their classes on request.
> Office hours were most likely not available to you when you were in high
> school, but in college, it's a wonderful opportunity to get clarification
> on
> something in the lesson, or feedback on a draft of a paper. In addition to
> this, most colleges have other free resources for students like tutoring
> and
> writing assistance.
> 5. College is a chance for you and your classmates to grow up! One of the
> first things I noticed was that in college, I no longer had to deal with
> kids crowding me in the halls, jumping on or over my cane, grabbing me or
> making rude comments. I enjoyed the freedom of being treated like an adult
> by both teachers and peers. Of course, growing up is bittersweet, but with
> the myriad of options for social clubs, communal living, and diversity that
> you will find on a college campus, you will find that almost anyone can
> identify a place where they fit or a class or extracurricular activity that
> they love. As you move through college, you will learn a lot of exciting
> things about yourself, what you enjoy and what you want to do in the next
> phase of your life.
> Best, Arielle
>
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