 INTRODUCTION

I find myself pretty confident of my learning potential during my progression from school to
higher education. I enjoyed my time being in school as I learned so many fundamental things
needed to help me pursue my career in a much more effective way. One of the most
important things I came to know during my time in school is the overall environment which
helps in nourishing students to their full potential while also helping them gain confidence
and mental strength which goes a long way. When I took a step towards higher education it
was obviously nerve wrecking for me considering ill have to face new environment, new
challenges and new students. This was not only a bit scary but also gave me chills thinking I
wouldn’t be enough to progress in that higher tier of education. Even though it was scary but
I knew this is what I need to achieve success in my career. There are several turning points
which determine the overall career of a student. This was my first turning point in which I
will have to come out of the box and think beyond my limits in order to reach my potential.
This is going to be challenging for me but then again nothing is worthwhile if its going to be
easy. I managed to get myself out of that nervous phase and now I am fully determined to
reach my potential and conquer these challenges to pursue my career successfully.

 THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN LEARNING IN THE SCHOOL

ENVIRONMENT AND HIGHER EDUCATION:

There are so many parameters between learning anything whatsoever in the school environment
and higher education that holds importance in shaping your career. The fact school is all about
basic study as well as it provides fundamental steps for students in order to get them prepared for
the next step. I have learned so many things in school that are now fully integrated into my
mentality that even if I try, I won’t be able to change my mentality which was built by the school
environment. This shows the degree of importance of school in determining your future as well
as your personality. Learning in school is far easy as it is in higher education because obviously
there are much different caliber of studies and overall, the situation we face in higher education
requires much more mental work along with hard work in order to strive through it. In schools
the learning phase is easy in my point of review because the books are easy to grasp while
requiring normal work to get through your classes. However, in higher education things are quite
different regarding studies and there are new things each day which test you to your limits. This
whole criterion is generally applicable to those students like me that work hard and make sure
they keep themselves pushing to the limits rather than having fun. Those students who take it
easy in school are never really prepared to face upcoming challenges in higher education. No
matter how much you lack in your hard work you can get through school without any such
difficulty. The moment you step in higher education things start to take a rough turn for those
students who aren’t prepared for this challenge as it is ever growing through your years in higher
education. The more you progress through your studies the more it will demand for you to put
work in. So, for that I will have to get your mentality right regarding my career. I have come to
agreement with myself that It is always going to be hard from this point onwards when I
progressed from my school to higher education and further onwards. The overall differences
between school and higher education are totally dependent on the personality of student. Some
find this progression easy due to their hard work and commitment like me while other find it
hard to maintain but the general difference is caliber of studies and the level of professionalism.
The more you progress in your life with your studies the more you will come to know about the
whole scenario of things surrounding you. This helped me in shaping my mentality as well as my
personality. These things are important in every student life when he/she has to progress through
this phase as it can determine their whole career. The more prepared you are the easier it will be
for you to tackle higher education with ease.

 ENGAGEMENT WITH CRITICAL READING AND THINKING:

Critical reading is the process of reading anything while analyzing it properly to get a better
perspective of what are you reading. The engagement of these two fundamental points can be
very beneficial in learning something new and understanding it properly. I was given a task that
required reading the whole article and making a file for the given article. I read the article
multiple times but couldn’t understand it properly as it was regarding that subject which I never
learned before so it was hard for to get my grip on this article. I read many books regarding this
specific article which helped me in actually understanding the task and making sure I write I
properly according to my task. This helped me in assessing something very useful up my sleeve
which can be used for future tasks and challenges. The engagement of critical reading along with
thinking is beneficial in order for me to understand the article at hand properly without any
difficulty. This not only allowed me to smartly work this through but also helped me learn few
more tricks which can be used to understand the article quickly. The homework I get on weekend
is mostly solved by this method of engaging critical reading with thinking. I read many articles
regarding my homework and write notes accordingly which are then checked thoroughly for any
mistakes. After that I read them with focus while thinking of solutions and understanding all the
questions which gives me a clear picture of what am I dealing with and how will I solve these
problems without much difficulty. This not only increases my focus but also get my brain all
fired up which helps me with improved thinking and understanding of the article. While
engaging critical reading with thinking I can get my homework done with ease rather than many
of the students who find it hard to counter this task. This is not only helpful in studies and in my
career but also in my real life. Through this I can understand different problems accurately while
thinking of the best solution to cater them rather than looking around in bushes. Engagement of
Critical reading and thinking is useful and has helped me a lot in my studies as well as in my
overall life regarding any problems related to understanding the general concept. The purpose of
utilizing these two aspects of general understanding is to help me properly dissect the
information and articles I am given in my studies to understand them in the best way possible.
This is the only way that has helped me in writing reports about the article which were tough and
many students failed to do that task properly unlike me who analyzed the overall project and
engaged my critical reading with thinking to carry out this task effectively. I am actually glad
that I learned this as early as possible as it will help me throughout my life not only in studies but
also in different aspects of my whole life.

 CONCLUSION

Through all these years in my school life and now in higher education I have attained many skills
along with knowledge about many new things which is going to help me in my studies as well as
in my life. The overall things I have learned throughout my school years is the way how I
developed my personality into a much better student as well as a good human being. I have
attained many moral and ethical values regarding my studies. Life is all about getting things done
step by step in time and time is money. The more time I waste the more steps ill be behind my
fellows and other people who are working day and night to get their goals. I am going to keep
working hard while making sure I keep pushing myself to the limits I never thought I would ever
reach. The more I will strive in my studies the more it will be easier for me to get my life
together in a meaningful way. I am going to make sure that I keep myself under check so that I
don’t get lenient towards myself and my studies as they should be prioritized over everything.
This will not only help my get through my year in Term 2 but also will help me in future
regarding my studies. I have developed my strong working mentality to this and I am going to
make sure that no matter what happens I stick to it with all of my heart and soul.

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