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

Tue Aug 11 02:12:21 UTC 2015

College is great; wouldn't have traded my experiences for anything.  I can
think of 30 reasons college is better.
 Justin.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman via nabs-l
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2015 10:07 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Five reasons why college is better than high school!

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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