College has been a big change for me. It has opened my eye. Before I was in college, I did not have as much responsibility. My parents told me what I had to do, such as when to go school, what time to go to bed, what time we were eating dinner, as well as checking up on me as far as studying went. My parents would ask if I had my homework done and if I had studied for my tests. My life felt more planned and not really my own, my parents still treating me as a child. They took care of me.
As far as studying, I could also get away with not doing as much studying, as long as I listened in class. I usually did my homework, but if you didn’t do your homework, then the teacher usually told you a hundred times that it needed to be given to her and handed in. So, if you did not do your homework, then it was your own fault for not listening to the teacher. It was a piece of cake.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"My Lifestyle Before And After College".
Basic expenses and bills were something that I did not need to worry about as much either. My parents took care of everything, such as grocery shopping, rent, and things that you take for granted and never think of, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and deodorant. If the toilet, wash machine, or something else broke, my parents took care of it. If I needed money for something, as long as it was not for something crazy and expensive, then they took care of it for me.
I did not appreciate or thank them for all that they did for me back then. They made my life comfortable and easy, something that I did not really know, until I signed up for college. Why is it that we have to lose things or not have conveniences in order to know that what we had was pretty good? I was lucky to have my parents take care of me and provide for me. However, that lucky time is now over.
As soon as I started college, I realized that I had to take care of myself and figure out how to live a responsible life. Now that I am in college, I have to budget my money for meals, gas, school books and supplies, as well as the things that I need to live every day. I am the one who has to worry about towels, toothpaste, paper, pencils, and pens. If I spend too much money on fast food, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, or Tim Horton’s, then I have to pay the price of not having enough money to go out or do other things. Nobody really cares because it is my own problem and nobody else’s issue.
I have also noticed that the motivation to go to class, study, and do homework is my problem. If I do not go to class or hand in homework, my friends do not care or call me and tell me to get up for school, the way that my parents used to do for me. That is all over with. If I decide to not do some work, then I pay the price, such as a lower grade. If I want to do well, I have to do my homework. If not, I have to see my lower grade because of it. That is something that I have to live with then.
Not like high school, my time management has to be really good. I cannot wait until the last minute to study, do papers, and do homework. I have done that and it backfired on me. I got a lower grade. I tried to cram all night for a couple of tests. All it did was wear me out and make me tired. I did badly on the tests and regretted the whole thing. Now, I try to give myself time to study, writing down what I will study each day and for how long. It really helps to have some sort of plan and time limit.
Sometimes, having more freedom is actually harder than what I once thought. When my friends ask me if I want to go out when I have a test or paper due the next day, I am caught between having fun and doing what I think I should. I am a teenager who should be having fun! But then I think of parents paying for my college and how I could never disappoint them. When I lived at home, my parents’ thoughts about me were not as important. Not that I did not care, but I feel that now I have to grow up to be a good, responsible person. I do not want to let them down or make them think that it was a mistake for me to go to college here.
As a foreign student, the amount of reading is really hard at times, sometimes overwhelming, so I try to give myself extra time to understand things and ask people questions if I have to. In high school, we had so much time to read, sometimes the teacher letting us start reading in class. We were even allowed to start our homework in class. Now, that would probably not happen too much. We are adults, who need to be responsible and smart about life. Is that not what it is all about?
Going to college has been a big change, as I now must be responsible, manage my time, study, and do homework and take care of my own needs and bills. I want to do well in college and get a good job that will help me in the future and make me somebody who has something to offer the world. All in all. I am growing up and I want my parents to think that I am the person that they raised me to be in life.
