It’s no secret that the life of a college student is extremely different from the years spent in high school. However, the expectations about college life can be drastically different from what actually occurs. College is not the party that movies like “Animal House” and “Van Wilder” make it out to be, but it’s also not a daunting monster that some describe it as (at least not completely).
Some students find that the reality of college is far better than what they had pictured in their heads. Take freshman psychology major Tina Hall, for instance. Hall expected to be extremely stressed in her first semester at college but has found it thus far “disturbingly easy.” While Hall is sure that as time goes on her academic work will become more difficult, she describes her semester at this point to be easier than what many of her teachers and counselors back at high school predicted.
Hall has even found that her experience in the college’s work program has been simpler to balance than she initially anticipated. “With the work program and everything, I thought that would be really hard to balance in with my schedule. That was one of my main concerns and they [work managers] are really easy about working around anything you need,” commented Hall.
Because some of her past teachers and counselors discouraged entrance into certain majors due to their low earning potential or success rate, Hall expected that her college experience would not allow her to find exactly the major that was right for her. “Now that I’m here and I see how helpful the teachers are and how much they offer that I basically can do any major that I want,” remarked Hall.
Hall was delighted to discover the benefits of a small campus size. It was very important that she did not feel like just a number and that she could easily approach her professors for help. Furthermore, Hall has found it easier to make friends at college than she initially thought. She finds that because her classes are smaller, she can make conversation with many of the other students about various assignments that form into deeper conversations and friendships. Hall does find this unusual considering she describes herself as “not a very outgoing person.” However, it seems that she has found a niche at Blackburn that allows her to be more expressive and find more friends than she initially thought possible.
Many college freshmen do not have the same outlook on their upcoming years of college as Hall does. According to usnews.com college ranking, Blackburn’s average freshman retention rate (how many freshmen make it to sophomore status) is 68 percent, which is only a few points above the national average for all colleges. There are a large number of freshmen that statistically will not make it to their sophomore year (at least at Blackburn). These freshmen leave for many reasons, including having a college experience that is not what they expected.