Andrew Hairston

Reflection Paper 1: Embracing College Adjustment

College is a new stage in life. There are so many responsibilities in which you must take

initiative. There are also many adjustments to make in order to do your best in college.

Personally, the biggest adjustments for me have been learning in a corporate college classroom

and balancing my time efficiently.

I had been homeschooled since the sixth grade, so learning in a classroom setting is

definitely unfamiliar. Whereas homeschooling was dependent on textbook learning and

assignments, college has a strong emphasis on professors, yet every professor is unique in how

he or she operates. Some centralize homework assignments on Canvas, others go on a word of

mouth basis without any tangible documentation. Some professors walk through the textbook,

others talk about subjects unrelated to it. Some let us students out right on time, others go over

ten minutes past, making us late for our next class. The classroom is also a formal setting in

which I must sometimes remain confused until I have an appropriate time to ask the questions I

need answered. There are definitely benefits to this type of setting for learning; nevertheless,

these are some aspects of college classrooms to which I am adjusting.

My second major adjustment is rather obvious: efficient time management. I suppose this

is something to which all college students are adjusting, but it can be difficult to balance

assignments with other aspects of life, including family life, making friends, recreational

activities, part-time work, church fellowship, and other school events and activities. Also, it is

easy to lose focus on my work if I have been sitting still for hours reading online textbooks or

scanning a paper thirteen times for grammatical errors. In spite of the stress surrounding time

management, training students in college to balance life well prepares them for life
Andrew Hairston

post-graduation. Therefore, I am working on balancing each aspect of life and trying my best to

bring honor and glory to God in everything.

In my experience so far, I am learning to adjust to the college classroom setting and to

better time management. I am super thankful for getting practice as these qualities will greatly

benefit me, both now and in the future past college.