Within my first three weeks of attending classes at Cal State Long Beach, I made the hasty decision that college was a walk in the park. Wrong! I soon realized that many high school teachers often make the common mistake of “babysitting” their students: making sure that they are in class on time, complete homework assignments and ultimately pass the class. This is counterproductive.
With the Los Angeles Times announcing its upcoming analysis of individual teachers’ effectiveness in the Los Angeles School District, I can’t help but recall my lack of motivation at CSULB my first semester.
Remember, some students may be in situations that make it nearly impossible to do well academically. In other words, the results of this “teacher analysis” should not reflect solely on the results of students’ standardized test scores. Students should be able to motivate themselves.
In college, however, the grade you get is the grade you earn, meaning you must act like an adult and take responsibility for completing homework thoroughly and on time, all while attending class regularly.
This is where I plunged face first into the hole of failure during my first semester at CSULB.
All throughout high school, I surrounded myself with beautiful people. They were outgoing, adventurous and spontaneous. We always knew it was going to be a wild night whenever a few of us got together.
When the time came to decide which college I would attend in fall 2008, I decided to try something new and go somewhere where none of my good friends were going. This ended up being the best but hardest decision of my life.
Upon my arrival at CSULB, I felt in need of friends to get into trouble with. I deemed it absolutely necessary to put myself out there and find people of conspiracy, like me. After a month of living in the dorms, I had partied so hard and so frequently in order to meet people that I began to experience symptoms of extreme mental and physical exhaustion. I eventually developed a bad case of insomnia and depression due to the sudden, drastic change in my life.
The five months that followed my diagnosis were some of the hardest months of my life. Fortunately, after about a year of constant struggle, I found my way out of what felt like the stickiest sinking sand of depression.
The problem was that I had mistaken my university professors for pushovers, and allowed this to be a reason to party and meet the friends that I lacked.
The moral of the story is this: both your social life and education are equally important in college. Surround yourself with good, stable people — friends who will be there to laugh with you. Be sure to not let them distract from your schoolwork, though. We’re adults now and must take responsibility for our own success in school. We can’t rely on our teachers to act like the parents we left back at home.
Join a student organization and put yourself out there, but don’t over do it. Don’t stress about the four-kegger party on Thursday night if you have a Friday morning class, you still have Saturday to savor that deliciously cheap college beer. Learn to prioritize, but don’t forget to have fun, either. Soon enough you’ll get the hang of it.
Sonia Guillen is a sophomore journalism major and an assistant opinions editor for the Daily 49er.
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