After completing a semester at Trinity College, I have gained a new type of knowledge regarding college life. This has allowed me to better understand the atmosphere on college campuses, which is helpful when giving advice regarding how to better improve your college education. Andrew Robert’s book, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College, addresses key pieces of advice that are helpful for college students. This advice ranges from tips on how to choose your college, all the way to being successful at college. Robert’s most valuable piece of advice is found on page 95: “Manage your time.” He highlights the importance of setting aside at least a couple hours each day dedicated to studying in a location with minimal distractions. This tip is crucial in order to get the most out of your education. If you manage your time well, you will have a greater amount of success in the classrooms and will find yourself with more time on your hands. This tip is particularly important for freshman to keep in mind because for the most part it is their first time really being away from home. With this new independence, it is completely up to the students to decide when they should complete their work, as they have no one making sure that it is completed. Further, college professors tend to be less understanding of excuses and if something is incomplete they will penalize you based on this.
Specifically for me, coming to college was a big step in terms of independence. Within the first few months of being here I had to figure out what worked and what didn’t and what the best way was to ensure all my work was complete. I am also on the ice hockey team, so I had one more thing I needed to keep in mind when managing my time. I found study hall, a set period of time where as a team you are forced to do work, to be extremely helpful and allowed me to get into a routine. No matter what it is, students need to decide what works for them and from there, use these strategies to ensure that their schoolwork is done and that it is their first priority.
Although Robert’s tips found on page 113, “Be Curious about the Subject,” and on page 115, “Visit All Professors during Office Hours at Least Once,” are strong suggestions, I would change these tips to include to importance of attending extra-help sessions and completing extra-credit assignments. These tips not only have direct benefits on getting a better education, but also have indirect benefits. Directly, going to extra help sessions will broaden your understanding of the course material and allow you to understand the topics better. Also, completing extra-credit assignments are always worthwhile as they directly increase your mark in the class. Indirectly, these tips show your professors you are interested in their class and care about succeeding. Although this does not guarantee you a better grade, teachers like to see that you want to be in their class and will keep this in consideration when they are interacting with you and grading your work. Working with these benefits it is clear that these tips will better your overall college education, and for the amount of effort you need to put into these tips, it is clearly worth completing. These tips are particularly useful at Trinity College because of the small campus size. Since teachers do not have an overwhelming amount of students, they are more likely to host extra-help sessions and offer extra-credit assignments. Students at Trinity are also given a unique opportunity to get to know their teachers on a more personal level. These tips allow students to do that, while still improving their marks, and demonstrating a high level of interest in the subject matter.
This semester I was in a Biodiversity class, where I felt these tips were particularly important and I wish I had been advised of them before the semester started. In the course, we had a quiz every Monday on the week’s material. Our teacher always mentioned that she was available for extra help sessions, but I never thought anything of this until my friend starting attending. My professor e-mailed my friend, who had not been doing well on the quizzes, to request to start meeting with her for extra help. Immediately after she started attending these meetings her quiz marks increased dramatically. Once I saw this happening I started going in as well and I was surprised with the same results. It is not fair to say that just because we showed up for extra help, she started marking us easier, but that, combined with having a greater knowledge of the quiz material, were both factors that contributed to the increasing grades and overall better education within the course.
After reading Robert’s book and actually experiencing a full semester at college, it is evident that all students should be given some advice before coming to college. Although Robert’s advice is strong, I believe that, while some advice can be generic, the most valuable tips you can receive are those specific to the college you are attending. This is because different advice is more relevant on some campuses then it is on others, as schools vary so greatly in size, education, and campus life. Specifically, at Trinity College, seeking extra help and completing extra credit assignments are both valuable pieces of advice. Using this advice, students have the ability to better their college education, which will help them in many perspectives, way beyond just their college experience.