The picture above is the answer sheet from what was my first major midterm in college. It was in Astronomy, and I had spent the previous two weeks studying a little bit every day due to the massive amount of material the class covered. In the end, my hard work payed off as I earned an A, placing me around the fifth best score in my class of over 100 students.
Although I’ve only been here a month, I’ve already noticed how different college is from high school. Unlike high school, there aren’t quizzes every week to make sure you’ve learned the material, no set homework assignments, and no teacher holding your hand. It’s up to you to keep up with the material, as every lecture is based around a different topic and assumes you know what happened the previous week. Although it is a lot harder, I definitely prefer this style of learning. I feel like I have already learned a ton even though it has only been a month, and I like the responsibility of being in charge of my own education.
I’ve also noticed how unlike high school, it isn’t realistic to hope for straight A’s in college. This has hit some of my friends hard as they’ve gotten their first midterms back and have seen a 73 on the paper instead of a 100. I know that this will happen to me too, and that it is only a matter of time. So, I figure that aiming for a certain GPA as an academic goal is futile and my goal should be just to try my hardest. If trying my hardest results in me getting a 4.0 GPA, fantastic. If trying my hardest results in me getting a 3.2, that’s fine as long as I honestly tried my best.