College Knowledge by Sasha

College Knowledge by Sasha - September 2014 Scholarship Essay

All throughout high school, most students work their hardest to make themselves desirable to become accepted into college. All of their hard work over the past four years is judged as they apply during senior year. For some, all of their sleepless nights pay off and they get accepted into college. However, the struggle is not over yet. While these students may have gotten into college, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s report “Education at A Glance 2010”, only 46% of the students in the United States who enroll in college will complete it. There are many factors that affect students ability to complete their education, however the most important skill needed for success in college is responsibility.

When first entering college, most students become so excited with the freedom of adulthood. Finally, they don’t have to listen to anyone and they are their own boss. This freedom can do more harm than good. This independence can be harmful if the student isn’t educated with proper time management skills. They have to know where they have to direct their time to be successful. Some students get caught up with the party scene, social media, or technology, and they forget to focus on the important thing: education. College students have to set aside time for studying, classes, friends, extracurricular activities, and themselves. Students have to become responsible for their own success, and without proper time management skills, success is impossible.

However, time management skills are not the only factors in a college student’s responsibilities. These late teens now have to learn to prioritization. Most assignments in college are long-term, unlike high school, where pupils are given short assignments to complete overnight. Many assignments or tests will be scheduled around the same times in college, so there are many decisions one has to make involving studying and working on the assignments. To complete these assignments, one has to prioritize their tasks. For instance, a student should decide to finish a lab report if the lab is going to be closed in a few days over an essay due in a month. Students have to be responsible enough to put education above friends, social networking, hobbies, and other unimportant things. Prioritization is a significant portion of responsibility.

To conclude, responsibility is the main skill any college student needs to be successful. Their newly independence often leads to bad decisions, however with responsibility, those negative actions can be diminished. They no longer have their parents to tell them to finish their homework before they go out or to do the laundry; they have to make their own decisions based on what they want to do. With all of the hard work the past eighteen years of their lives, I hope every college student is responsible enough to change the statistics of college dropouts.