EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING -- Gay Geiser-Sandoval

School is out and the class of 2001 graduates now move on to the next

chapter in their lives. I asked my daughter, just back from her first

year at college, to pass along some words of advice. Some of you will be

going to community college by design and some because you goofed off in

high school. Some friends will go off to colleges throughout the United

States and will e-mail you with tales of what it is like to live in a

land without parents. They will be recounting wild nights in the dorm.

So, if you go to college, now is the time to get motivated. You will

determine your own destiny, and if you don’t get yourself to class, don’t

read the books and don’t study for the tests, you won’t have to worry

about what your major is going to be. You will get kicked out.

If you are off to a top-caliber school, plan on having a crisis in

confidence. In college, all of the kids are top-notch. None of your

teachers has ever heard of you. It’s a challenge figuring out where your

class is and what books to buy, much less how to get all of the

assignments done and how to study for the tests. Instead of letting panic

overtake you, decide you are as good as anyone else, and you too can make

it at this school.

Get involved in something you like and be committed to it. It gives

you an opportunity to meet people outside of your dorm who share a common

interest. Go to all of the dorm activities, including ski trips, dances

and fun nights. Remember, everyone else is as nervous about meeting new

people as you are, so don’t be shy, especially at the beginning. You will

regret it later if you do.

Decide what you will take to your dorm room and then take a lot less

stuff. Get a white board to put on your door for others to write you

notes. Don’t bring any books from home. Bring flip-flops for the shower.

Decide that you will get along with your roommate. You don’t really have

much of a choice, so you might as well make it a positive experience.

Once you get there, take a tour of the college library and find out

what secret resources it holds. It may have old tests from previous

classes to help you know what to study. Find a place in the library that

is quiet with no distractions and use it as your study and reading place.

There is too much to read. Read what is important and retain that part.

Skim over the rest.

Visit your teachers during office hours and ask them for help. Find

the tutors and ask them to read over your papers before you turn them in.

Leave yourself enough time to draft and redraft big assignments because

your college teachers won’t give you extensions like you got in high

school. Organize your time.

While you have known your high school friends for many years, it’s not

the same as living with them. If you go away to school, most of your

freshman year will be spent talking and learning how to live with others.

The people in your dorm will be your friends for life. You think you are

going to college to learn about science or computers or a subject. But,

after a year away at college, what you learn the most about is yourself.

At the end of freshman year, one student reflected that he felt he had

finally “found himself.” If he died today, he would be happy with the

decisions and choices he made.

College is about forming opinions and making choices because it is

what you believe, not because it is what your parents or teachers think

or tell you to do. You make decisions and choices by deliberate thought

instead of by default. Not all of your decisions will be correct, but

most college environments allow for some mistakes. It will be the best

year of your life.

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She may be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .