How to Do College

You have applied, been accepted, and now you are registered for classes at College of DuPage. Congratulations!

Now what?

You are either registered in ENGLI 0493 and 1101, 1101 only, or 1102 only; these courses will provide you with a foundation for success not only in classes across the curriculum. Also, if you are taking English 1101 your very first semester of college, you’re gaining so many skills that will help you in other courses.

As you read this chapter, if you are like many students, you might be wondering how to go to college or what do you do now that you are in college. Realize that not only is there a learning curve in each of your classes, there is a learning curve for how to do college.

Some students admit to being anxious the night before their classes begin. Besides not knowing how to do college, they wonder if they will see someone they knew from high school, or if they will they make new friends, or have sit by themselves for the next two years at COD.

If you do not have family or friends who have gone to college you may not have anyone to “show you the ropes.” You may wander the campus looking not only for your classroom, but the correct building. Being a little lost in this new environment is normal and it won’t last for long.

While this chapter cannot answer all your questions, it can help you acclimate to college and college culture, and outline some basic strategies to be successful in college.

Community Engagement

There are things to know and things to do as you begin your classes at COD. Community college students have been known to be C-C-C students; they go from the car to the classroom, and back to the car. Don’t let that be you. The word “community” was used in both sentences intentionally.

Most students want to belong and have social connections. The months of COVID-19 have shown us that.

Any number of current and former students will tell you to find a community while you are here. It may be via the The Intercultural Hub, Veterans Services, PRIDE Alliance, Black Student Union, Latinos Unidos, Muslim Student Association, Anime and Cosplay Club, or Austismerica. [Click here for more about the COD Clubs and Organizations.]

Even if you are coming back to school many years after high school or if your college career was interrupted for a few years or many, you belong here and have a role to play in the college community.

These are your “college days.” Enjoy them! Besides getting involved in clubs and organizations to meet other students with interests similar to yours, attend dances, activities, forums, and other activities provided by your Student Life and Leadership.

Involvement increases the stake you have in your college education and gives you the kick in the pants you might need to get class when the going gets tough. Participating in clubs leads to friendships and it’s never a bad thing to have people in your life who have your back and want you to succeed. And your friends might also need these nudges from you as well!

Course Load

However, don’t set yourself up for failure. Glory Johnson-Stanton, Manager of Multicultural Student Success and a former academic advisor at Salt Lake Community College, advises students to not “take on additional responsibilities (club officer, etc.) until you have at least completed your first two semesters with a GPA of 2.5 or above.” Prior to that, spend your first year checking out one club a month or by attending the Student Life fair in the fall semester.

Additionally, if your high school GPA is below 2.6, you might want to check out some workshops that teach learning strategies, study techniques, and test taking skills.

“School can be a lot of fun, but you need to know when to have fun and when to focus on classes,” Johnson-Stanton adds. Socializing is part of college. You may or may not have friends “to hang” with outside of school. Regardless, be open to meeting and talking with a variety of people in your classes.

Time Management

You will need to manage your time. The college offers free workshops on time management and how to study. Speaking of studying, set aside time to study for each class, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour every day.

There’s another formula for how much time to spend studying for each class you take. For every 1 hour in class, set aside 2 hours of study time. So, for a 3–credit hour class, you will spend 3 hours in class and then 6 hours a week studying. When you add the 3 hours of class plus the 6 hours of studying, together it equals 9 hours of time each and every week for that one class.

Now assume you are taking 12 credit hours. You will spend 12 hours in class and then 24 hours a week studying. When you add the 12 hours of class plus the 24 hours of studying, together it equals 36 hours of time each and every week for that one semester.

That amounts to almost a full-time job! Not every class will require this much study time. Talk with your instructor the first day and ask.

Body Clock

Know the rhythms of your body clock; don’t try to change your body clock as you begin college. If you have never been one to wake up by 7:00 a.m., don’t take early morning classes. Be sure to schedule classes at least an hour after your normal wake up time and allow for travel time to campus.

Likewise, if you are not an evening person, avoid evening classes. You will be tired and unable to focus. If you “come alive” late at night, take online classes that allow you to work when you work best. Know and listen to your body clock as you schedule your classes.

And also important: anticipate parking issues! Students always complain about difficulty finding parking the first couple weeks of classes. If you find one spot at the very far reaches of the Earth, keep in mind how far you have to walk to the building and then search for your classroom.

Procrastination

If procrastination is a problem, watch the following TED Talk ― “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” by Tim Urban. In it, Urban describes his own procrastination experiences in college, why we procrastinate, and efforts to avoid it.

Even “A” students struggle because of procrastination. Recognizing that you procrastinate is half the problem. Learning how to deal with it is the other half. Yes, you can overcome it.

Believe it or not, procrastination is not due to laziness. Students (anyone, really – even professors!) procrastinate due to fear, anxiety, or even some self-doubt about the task or assignment. Consider speaking with a counselor if you think that you’ll need to talk about this more. The counselors at COD are fantastic and kind and helpful. As mentioned earlier, they were students, too! And now with their expertise, they can pay it forward by helping students overcome some of the challenges they had when they went to college.

Distractions

“DO NOT take classes with your friends if they are a distraction for you,” urges Glory Johnson-Stanton. You will still be able to remain friends, and real friends (as opposed to frenemies) will understand.

Not only are there distractions inside the classroom, there are many distractions outside of class.

Research shows it can take about 23 minutes to get back the same level of concentration after an interruption (Griffey). While you may think those three hours of studying were productive, they were not if you were interrupted two or three times.

Like the anecdote referenced above about the student who banished his phone to another room of the house, it’s also time for you to reflect on your relationship with your device. Most phones come with settings that log your interaction with your phone. It might tell you whether you are mostly on it for social media, how much time you spend emailing or texting, or watching YouTube. Take a look at some of this data. You might be pleasantly surprised or perhaps horrified. The point is, in high school, you might have had to put your phone away, like in a pouch or safe, or maybe you were told simply to flip it over on your desk. However, in college, phone use policies might vary by instructor. In classes where it is allowed, be mindful of how and whether it keeps you from learning and follow your own policy, so to speak. In other words, know thyself.

The same goes for laptops and computers. iMessage on Macbooks can keep you from paying attention while you are taking notes, writing an essay, watching course videos, etc. And opening up extra tabs to watch shows or play music on YouTube? That can lead to a two hour “study break.” Again: know thyself. Monitor yourself. Know when you’re going rogue and reel yourself back in.

The Alphabet Soup*

This class is OER. Head over to SRC so you can work on your homework in the ACC, and then grab a bagel in the MAC. Get help with your math homework at the TASC. What does it all mean?

Students Joseph D. N. and Joey D. N. tell students it is important to learn the “alphabet soup” as they call it. “College has its own language,” according to Joseph D. N. You have to learn the language while you’re learning the course content.

Professional College Relationships

Get to know your professors. Although they may seem intimidating, remember that every professor or instructor had a day when it was their first day in a college class. Yes, they once sat in a college class, just as you are doing.

Joey talks of his relationship with his business class professor. It made all the difference with him being comfortable in college and with college classes. “I finally met someone who cared,” he says.

Get to know your instructors and allow them to get to know you. They may become a mentor who will help guide you through the maze of attending college. Perhaps they can relate to you being here from another country, being an English Language Learner, or being away from home for the first time. In the future, you might even be able to use them as a reference for scholarships or college applications.

Things To Know

Read the campus newspaper ― The Courier. Seriously. Especially read the fall semester’s back-to-school edition. It may sound old school to read a print newspaper, but this edition is packed full of information to help new students and returning students navigate college.

These are just some of the campus resources you should be aware of: the library, Fuel Pantry (you can’t focus and concentrate when you’re hungry or worse, your children are hungry), Career Services, Academic Advisors, and Counseling Services.

Learn where the library is, the food court, the ATMs on campuses.

Sources

Griffey, Harriet. “The Lost Art of Concentration: Being Distracted in a Digital World.” The Guardian. 14 Oct 2018. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/14/the-lost-art-of-concentration-being-distracted-in-a-digital-world

Johnson-Stanton, Glory. Email interview. Conducted by Jerri A. Harwell, 6–7 Oct 2020.

Schaeffer, Amie. Photograph. The Globe. Fall ’20 Issue. 10 Aug 2020. www.globeslcc.com

This content is adapted from Open English @ SLCC by SLCC English Department and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.